eggo, preggo, baby girl
by nellia cimor
Summary: this is the story of how garcia became pregnant. and what a wild and windy tale it is..
1. Chapter 1: tempting fate

[a/n: just a fun little fic-lit that floated into my brain one morning. started writing just to see where it would go. something i'd like to point out before this story begins is penelope is not a slut. i love penelope and would never write her that way. on the other hand.. there are many forms of 'drunk'. there's the weepy drunk, the fighting/angry drunk, the happy drunk aaaaaaaaaaannd.. the frisky drunk. i'm willing to bet good money penelope would be a frisky drunk. an extremely frisky drunk. an 'oh my god, i just love everything and everyone so much right now!' drunk. if you've witnessed this kind of drunk before, you know what i mean. just add alcohol and wham!- instant nymphomaniac. this is more in the light-hearted spirit of a 'momma mia' scenario. cheers.]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Penelope sat on the very edge of her bathtub and stared. She just stared. She stared and stared and stared. What else could she do? Eighteen. Eighteen little pink strips all telling her the same thing. She'd tried to believe she was just putting on a few more pounds, but no. No, these damn little pieces of plastic had to ruin her hopes and confirm her worst fears - - she was preggers. P-r-e-double-gah-ers. Pregnant. With child. Knocked up. There was a definite bun in her proverbial oven... and she hadn't a clue who-done-it.

Kevin had walked out on her after a jealous blow-up about a week ago, after he found out she'd gone to Vegas with her whole team instead of just a town over for a girl's vacation with JJ and Emily. It's not that she had wanted to lie to Kevin, it's just she knew he wouldn't let her go otherwise. He had a real stick up his ass sometimes.

She threw the pregnancy test in the trash by her toilet in disgust and washed her hands thoroughly. Honestly, there had to be better ways of home-testing then trying your hardest to pee on a toothpick. She turned her back to the sink and lent there, sighing and drying her hands morosely.

She couldn't help feeling that Kevin had been right for once, she shouldn't have gone to Vegas. None of this would be happening to her now if she hadn't gone. Well, actually, she thought, that wasn't entirely true. The tiny little him or her could be a bastard spawn of that anal prick, she didn't really know how far along she was. She was just guessing that the entire week in Vegas that was missing from her memory banks might just be a better culprit.

She sighed again, and hung the hand towel back in it's proper place.

She better decide what to do with this 'bundle of joy', and fast. In fact, she worried biting her bottom lip as she gathered her things, readying herself for another work day, it might already be too late.


	2. Chapter 2: shades of grey

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Penelope stood in the entrance to the elevator a few extra minutes and made sure she had grabbed all of her notes and bags from ester. Once she was satisfied, she braved the dreaded walk through the main area to her office on the far side. It was like taking the plunge every morning, waiting and praying that no one would notice anything was amiss with her-

"hi Garcia!", Reid greeted cheerfully.

Penelope nearly jumped out of her skin. "holy crap, Reid! Way to sneak up on a lady!", she admonished, hand to her heart.

Reid gave her a puzzled look, "...but, you were staring right through me a minute ago.."

"was i? I'm sorry", Penelope apologized rather unnecessarily, "i was just thinking a little too hard i guess. Must stop doing that really.." geez, hold it together women or they'll find you out!

"that's okay..", Reid replied, now sounding rather suspicious and turning to exchange a look with Hotch.

"Garcia.. are you feeling alright?", Hotch asked, concerned and suspicious as well.

"yes, completely", she lied, trying to keep her face blank. Of course, when ever she tried to look innocent, that's usually when they guessed she was guilty. She needed to think of something, fast! Blast her completely readable emotions!

"are you sure?", he was not convinced.

Penelope mustered up the energy to crack a small smile, "nothing a bottle of red wine and a bubble bath can't fix, I'm sure." there were still questions in their eyes, so she added. "I'm fine, really guys. Save that stuff for the unsubs." she poked Reid playfully in the arm, and winked at Hotch, earning her smiles in return. "now, don't you have work to do?", she asked over her shoulder as she swayed out of the room.

As soon as she was out of site, their smiles faded.

"she's wearing sweaters again instead of blazers or jackets", Reid said, staring at the point of her exit.

"yup", answered Hotch, also staring at the same spot.

"which means she either is upset about a case, her and Kevin had a fight, or something else is really bothering her", Reid continued on his observation.

"yup", Hotch answered yet again.

Reid looked up at his boss from his seated position at his desk, "so when do you think she'll tell us what's wrong?"

"right before she's about to burst into tears", Hotch answered dryly.

"i was afraid you were going to say that..", Reid sighed, returning to his paperwork.

Hotch took that as his que, and left to find Rossi and give him some case files he'd asked for. But his mind was still burning with questions for their sullen tech. Whatever it was, it made the normally neon rainbow disco that was Garcia want to wear shades of grey.


	3. Chapter 3: giving in

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Penelope sat at her desk, ready to type, but nothing would come. She tried and tried and tried, but all she could think about was the thing growing inside of her. She sighed hopelessly, and ran her hands through her hair for the umpteenth time. Why was this happening to her? Was it some kind of cosmic punishment for duping her boyfriend? Well, ex-boyfriend now. She looked desperately from side to side in frustration, trying to find something to focus on, anything! But there was no comfort. Only a cold, creeping dread seeping toward her heart. Penelope took a moment to steady herself. 'get a grip, garcy-girl', she warned herself sternly. 'mood swings, remember? Can't let yourself get down or it will swallow you up.' she needed answers and she wasn't going to get them trying in vain to search for unsubs. She needed to see a doctor. It was the only way she could set things straight and come up with a plan that would let her get on with work. She spun in her chair, hitting the power buttons on her computer towers, not even caring at the moment that she knew better then to treat them like that. She gathered her things, her wits, and her courage, and, taking a deep breath, she marched out her tech room, locking the door behind her. She came to a halt just inside of Hotch's open door, and hesitated. He looked so focused on his work that she didn't want to bother him anymore, no matter how awful she felt. She was just about to leave, when he glanced up at her, stopping her in her tracks.

"Garcia?", he asked, waiting for a response.

"hi", she breathed nervously, getting flustered because he looked kind of annoyed.

"hi, was there something specific you needed?" she looked torn.

"i-ah", she paused, then hurried to explain so he would stop doing that glaring thing that he did that he was doing to her right now, "sir, you know that i never ask for days off, even when I'm sick and should probably go home because i have a fever and am not on my complete A game, but instead i stay because i feel guilty when ever I'm not there to help you all catch the bad guys, and i know that you're awesome and you'll still get them, but I'm always like, 'what if I'm not there and they get someone else to cover for me, but they don't do something that i know you all would have me do without asking, and more people die, and now that's on me, because i wasn't there, i was out sick', so i-"

Hotch waved his hand to make her stop, and she did so abruptly. "Garcia.. are you trying to ask for time off?" he asked, trying to wade through all of her words and sort out the heart of the matter.

"well, yeah, but if you need me here, I'll totally just stay and try to work through it, cuz you know i usually can it's just-"

"it's fine", he cut across her renewed babble train and returning to his paperwork, "Kevin can cover for you."

"oh, i wouldn't do that, sir", Penelope warned earnestly, shaking her head.

Hotch looked back up from his paperwork, alert, "why not?"

when Penelope hesitated, he had his answer.

"you had a fight with him..", he sighed, frustrated. This made things far more complicated then they needed to be.. "was it bad?"

"i kinda told him a little lie so i could go to Vegas with you guys", she cringed, dreading the reaction, "and then he found out."

"I'm guessing that didn't go too well", he empathized.

"he called me every nasty thing he could think of and then left with everything of his he could carry", she blushed, mortified.

"classy", Hotch replied dryly, lifting his eyes to the ceiling slightly.

Penelope smiled. He knew just what to say sometimes. She was already feeling better. Of course her team would take her side in this. They were a family, and now that she and Kevin were no longer dating, he was no longer a distant relative. "sir, i think maybe I'll stay."

"no, you look horrible. You need to go see a doctor. Go, we'll be fine", he gave a small smile of encouragement.

Penelope wrinkled her nose in self-loathing, "do i really look that awful?"

"if i said no, you would insist on staying and you wouldn't get any better, wouldn't you?", Hotch asked shrewdly.

"i-", she looked him in his no nonsense eyes, and caved. "no. Fine, I'll go."

"good", he said briskly, tidying his desk, and getting up to see her out the door, "i hope you won't mind if i take a few minutes to make sure you leave the building.."

"you know i can just sneek back in right?" she prodded, heading toward the elevator.

"not on your life", he joked back, actually following her to make double sure she left.


	4. Chapter 4: figuring out the game plan

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

She waited alone in the cold, cold examination room, twisting her fingers and various rings nervously in turns. Why were hospital rooms always so cold when you were waiting for life altering news? She began to search the room for a thermostat, wondering if she could maybe get away with turning the heat up on her own. To her surprise, she actually managed to find one. She slowly reached her hand toward the dial.

"so!, miss Garcia, is it?", asked a woman's voice, making Penelope yelp in fear and turn sharply towards the sound. She was met with the sight of a tall, curvacious, dark haired doctor, examining her charts intently. The doctor looked up at Penelope and smiled. "i guess I'll be your doctor today." when Penelope didn't answer, but just kept standing there like a frightened deer, the women extended her hand, "hi, you are miss Garcia?"

"um- yeah..", Penelope blurted, still in shock, extending her hand for a hand shake in return. "Penelope."

"no way, really?", the doctor smiled excitedly, shaking Penelope's hand, "my name's Calliope! But everyone calls me Callie, please don't call me Calliope. I can't believe i just told you that.."

Penelope giggled slightly. "that's okay, i won't."

"awesome", Callie smiled, "um- right!, your prognosis! Well, I'm sorry to tell you, if you were hoping to abort this mission, it's really too late for that."

Penelope's face feel a little at that. Her fears were having a nasty way of coming true today. But, then again, she probably would have kept it anyway. The thought of hurting something so small and innocent made her stomach turn, but she had been reasonable in considering every option. Now her choices seemed fewer and far between, but at least she knew in which direction she was headed, which was a small comfort to the previous bout of chaos. "yeah, i kinda figured that", Penelope sighed, sitting back down on the hospital bed, and fiddling with her jewelry again.

Callie looked up from Penelope's charts toward her melancholy patient. She knew what it was like to all-of-a-sudden discover you were going to be a mom and there was nothing you could do about it. "hey, um, i don't mean to pry, but it sounds like you might have an idea about when this happened?"

"well, i wasn't sure until now", Penelope answered truthfully, "but there was this trip i took a little while ago-"

"ah, i see", said Callie, nodding knowingly, "the hangover, the woman's version."

Penelope decided she really liked this doctor. She was sorta funny. "yeah, so true, 'cause it was in Vegas and everything."

"oh, nice!", Callie chuckled sympathetically.

Penelope frowned. "i just wish i could remember any of it.."

Callie's attention caught on that. "wait, what was the last thing you remember?"

Penelope tried very hard to discern the smallest memory, but it was proving extremely difficult. "i remember getting on the jet. Rossi had bribed the pilot to fore go Strauss' wrath and fly us there... then we landed and all of us checked into the hotel-"

"how many of you were there?", Callie asked scribbling some notes on Penelope's chart.

"there were seven of us, including me", Penelope answered, "we had to double up in rooms because we only had so much money and it had to last us the week." Penelope chuckled then. "we had to draw straws to see who would be stuck with Reid. It was hilarious. Well, it was hilarious until i drew the short straw.. oh my god!, what if i slept with Reid?" Penelope blanched and her stomach turned. Oh lord...

"who is this Reid?", Callie asked, writing 'possible father: reed' under her notes.

Penelope gave herself a shake mentally. "uh... he's- he's an agent i work with.. my whole team went.. oh god, i hope i didn't sleep with Reid.."

"why? Is he fugly or something?", Callie asked before she'd thought it through.

"well, no, but he's like, nine years younger then me", Penelope answered by way of explanation. "he's just so young. He might make a good dad some day, who knows? But now.. and i don't even like him that way."

"well, I'm sure stranger things have happened", Callie pointed out, still taking as many notes as she could. "any of you drinking alcohol?"

"we all were", Penelope emphasized the word 'all'. "even Reid, and he doesn't usually drink. Something about killing important brain synapses or something-"

Callie grinned, leaning against the counter opposite Penelope. "he sounds like a smarty pants, this Reed guy."

"he's brilliant", Penelope nodded. "he has an IQ of one hundred and eighty, and an eidetic memory. He also has a doctorate."

"wow, really?", Callie was intrigued, "where on earth do you work?, some kind of think tank for the government?"

"i work for the behavioral analysis unit of the FBI. Basically, we get into the minds of the bad guys, find out what makes them tick, and then bring them down. Well, i should say, my team brings them down. I just help them when ever they run into cyber crud." Penelope explained.

"and what do you do, specifically?, if you don't mind me asking", Callie asked.

"I'm a technical analyst", Penelope answered, "i run searches using the information super highway for the team when they're huntin' down the perps. I'm like their oracle." Penelope giggled at her self-proclaimed nickname.

"sounds like you're all fairly smart", Callie observed.

Penelope grinned shyly. "thanks."

"tell me about the rest of your team", Callie asked, flipping Penelope's chart over and continuing on the other side, "what are they like?"

"well", Penelope began, mulling the question over, "there's JJ and Emily. JJ's our communications liaison and Emily is a regular field agent. Then there's Rossi; he's Italian and sweet. He loves hunting and can drink enough to sink a ship. He founded the BAU. He retired, but then came back because he had unfinished business and ended up staying with us. Then there's Reid. Dr. Spencer Reid. Youngest agent in the FBI. He's sweet and really shy, but he can play poker like a shark and does really cool magic tricks. He actually lived in Vegas when he was a kid, come to think of it.. anyway, then there's the boss man, Hotch. He keeps all of us in line. He's kinda no nonsense, but he's a softy underneath. He has an adorable son, jack, and i baby sit sometimes when his ex-wife's sister is busy."

"ex-wife?", Callie asked.

"yeah, she-" Penelope halted at the painful memory, "-she died. It was awful. Hotch is still torn up about it. He blames himself."

"why?"

"because if he hadn't been so determined to catch this bad guy, Foyet, Foyet may not have murdered her."

Callie gasped. "oh, that is awful! I'm sorry."

"that's okay", Penelope assured her. "Foyet is dead now. He can't hurt anyone any more."

Callie let a moment of silence pass between them before she continued. "you said there were seven of you.. that's only six."

"oh, yeah, well, the last one is Derek", Penelope said, as if that should explain everything.

Callie waited expectantly for more information, but then she realized there was none forthcoming, so she proceeded to prod Penelope into elaborating. "and who is this Derek?"

Penelope shrugged. "he's just Derek. We've been best friends ever since the day we met and he called me baby girl."

"baby girl?", Callie smirked.

"well, yeah, he didn't know what my name was and i was about to leave the bullpen so he called out 'hey, baby girl!', and thus an intrepid friendship was born." Penelope smiled in fond remembrance.

"so you two are close?", Callie questioned, focusing her efforts on this promising lead.

Penelope laughed. "some would say too close." then she added quickly. "but he would never hook up with me. He wouldn't risk ruining our friendship over something silly like that. He's all chivalrous and stuff. Like a knight," she gushed happily, sighing.

Callie smiled to herself. She'd seen that look on women before. "he's sounds dreamy."

"he is", Penelope agreed, "he's handsome too. Like a giant ship of gorgeousness; You just wanna crack a bottle over him and lick it off", she growled mischievously, bubbling with suppressed laughter.

"sounds like Derek is the best candidate so far", Callie pointed out, adding 'Derek' to the list of possible fathers.

Penelope's cheeks blushed pink with this revelation. The more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea was. Then she gave her head a shake. This was Derek Morgan, player extraordinaire. He would never agree to being a father, much less with his best friend. No, it would be better if the child wasn't his. "i hope not.." Penelope sighed, feeling small and defeated.

"when alcohol is involved, anything is possible", Callie said, finishing her note taking with a flourish. "well, if you really want to find out who the daddy-to-be is, there is always the good old paternity test."

Penelope balked. "i couldn't ask them to do that!", she squeaked, panic stricken. "they'd murder me! I'd never here the end of it! Plus, plus, also, and, I'd be hence forth known as the office slut! They'd say 'there goes Garcia. Doesn't even know which one she put out for, the whore.' I'd have to quit the BAU-"

"whoa there, miss Garcia!", Callie held up her hands to stop Penelope's tirade short. "there's no need to go condemning yourself yet! You've got seven or so whole months to think about it. I'd wait until the chick pea was born before I'd go around asking about dad's myself, but there's no rush. Really."

Penelope didn't look convinced.

Callie tilted her head so she could look Penelope in her down cast eyes. "hey, frowny face. You're gonna be fine. No matter what, it will all be worked out in the end. I'll help you with what i can, okay? And we'll get you all set up to deliver this thing, alright?"

Penelope gave her a small quirked smile.

"that's right. Come on, momma. Give us a smile", Callie encouraged.

Penelope beamed tearfully and laughed. "thank you. You're completely awesome."

"damn right", Callie joked, handing Penelope her personal card, "now i want you to call me with updates about every week or so, okay? And if you feel like anything's gone odd with the baby, you can call me sooner, but never think a problem's too small okay? We don't want that precious life to go to waste."

Penelope took Callie's card gratefully. "thank you so much. I feel so much better now. You're an amazing doctor."

"thank you", Callie's smiled, gathering Penelope's clothes from the counter behind her. "you'll probably be wanting these back", she laughed, handing them to Penelope. "i know i wouldn't want to wear that hospital gown for longer then i needed to."

Penelope looked down at the pile of neatly folded clothes and made a face. "is this what i came here in? Ugh! No wonder Hotch told me i looked awful and needed to go to the doctor. Look at this; grey sweater, dark top- oh lord, i was wearing my black wool skirt. I never where my black wool skirt. It just sits in the back of my closet collecting dust." Penelope glanced up at Callie with a horrified look on her face.

"i would hesitate to ask what you usually wear to work", Callie smiled, pausing in the doorway.

Penelope made a disgusted face. "not this", she muttered, handling the clothes as though they might infect her with some form of disease at any moment.

Callie smiled fondly at Penelope. "I'll see you at reception when you're ready to leave." and with that, she left Penelope to change.

Penelope held up her dark top, still frowning. "this needs a little.." then she smiled, "..original Garcia. Ha-huh." she spied her bag on the far counter, and practically lunged for it. Opening the bag, she located her emergency accessories and held them up in glee. "ohhh yes", she giggled happily, already scheming.

[a/n: yes, i stole Callie from 'grey's anatomy'. yes, i made her into a neonatal care doctor. i wanted Garcia to have a kickass doctor, and Callie's my favorite. so sue me. *shrugs* anyway, i also stole another character from 'grey's anatomy' for the next chapter. hope you likey regardless. love y'all. peace.]


	5. Chapter 5: pocket full of sunshine

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

"hey", Alex greeted, getting Callie's attention. She smiled at him in return. "how did your first preggo eggo go, Dr. Torres?"

"really well actually", Callie smirked smugly as Alex's expression turned to mild surprise. "she's gonna be a great mom. She was just a little freaked out about not knowing who the father was, but once i calmed her down-"

"wait, she didn't know who the father was?" Alex was confused. "the one that came in and looked like the embodiment of a frickin' rain cloud of death? That chick?"

"yes, that chick", Callie said slightly offended on her patients behalf, "and you know what, she'll be here in a minute, so would you mind taking your head out of your ass, and stop being so god damned offensive!"

"alright! Relax! Sheesh!" Alex held up his hands in mock-defeat. "i was only saying that i wouldn't have pegged her for the flirty type.."

"yeah, well, you'll show Penelope some respect, or I'll return to my old job of breaking bones."

"oh, so you're on a first name basis now, are you?", Alex jibbed, backing away as Callie took a swipe at him.

"we happen to be, yes, you little prick", Callie grumbled, giving up the chase and glaring at Alex. "and besides, she told me she doesn't look like that normally."

"oh yeah?", Alex leered, placing the front desk between himself and his angry college for some much needed safety. "I'll believe it when i see it."

Callie rolled her eyes at Alex in frustration. He was such an ass-hat sometimes. Then she caught sight of something that made her break out into a gigantic smug smile. "turn around."

Alex gave Callie a quizzical look. "why?"

"just do it, Karev!", Callie barked.

Alex half shrugged and turned. He was definitely not expecting what he beheld.

There was Callie's preggo chick, but it was like the sun had come out to banish the clouds- and in a big way.

Penelope strode confidently down the hallway towards the front desk. She had re-styled her hair in a kind of greek goddess net, letting a cascade of blonde curls flow out of the back. In her typical fashion, she'd taken apart an old sunflower barrette and bobby pinned the petals into place along the back of the net in a halo pattern. She'd changed out her previously bland makeup for a rather fiery display of red, orange, and yellow eyeshadow with a splash of glitter and highlighted with sparkly green mascara. To compliment, her lipstick was a spicy hot rod red with a light gloss that made her smile shine, and some how, she'd managed to come up with ruby earrings and a deep red shell necklace. Penelope had also cleverly transformed her wardrobe by reworking her loose dark top into a more provocative tank that crossed the long sleeves in the front and tied neatly behind the nape of her neck, and then she'd clipped a black bow on the the knot to hide it's hastiness. Her long grey sweater was still folded and carried by her left arm in favor of a mellowed yellow scarf she'd found tucked away in a corner of her bag. She'd also pinned up the hem of her black wool skirt so it was now a heck of a lot shorter. Her grey tights had been exchanged for a pale yellow pair and she'd opted for black fishnets over the top. With yellow and black stripped nails and a leopard patterned belt, her look was complete. Penelope swaggered up to the front desk and beamed at Callie.

"i see you're feeling better", Callie observed, smiling just as brightly back.

"oh my god! Like, so much better!", Penelope gushed, giggling giddily. "i can't believe how drab i was this morning! Thank you so much for cheering me up, it was really sweet of you."

"you're welcome", Callie replied humbly. She then glanced over at the stunned and speechless Alex. "this is doctor Karev, by the way", she introduced, "he is another member of the neonatal unit."

"nice to meet you!", Penelope grinned, extending her hand towards the new doctor.

"uh- yeah! Nice to meet you too.." Alex fumbled for words as he shook Penelope's hand. "you look.. like, way healthier then before.."

"oh, yeah", Penelope blushed, embarrassed. "it's always like I'm a different person when I'm in a funk, but!, I'm over it now. Came up with a plan while i was amping up my appearance. Makes me feel loads better when i know what direction I'm to be heading in. Chaos is for the birds, i tell ya.. anyway!, if there's nothing more for me to worry over here, I'm off to fight some crime!"

Callie nodded. "i just need you to sign this release form, and promise me that you won't over work yourself, or put yourself through any undo stress as that could harm the baby."

"done, and done, gorgeous angel doctor of mine!", Penelope chirped happily, signing the form with a flourish.

"good", Callie smiled warmly, and giving a quick wave, "have a great day, miss Garcia."

"you too", Penelope winked at Callie, and then shook Alex's hand one more time before heading for the exit.

"woooooooww..", was all Alex could say after Penelope had left the building.

"big difference, huh?", Callie grinned triumphantly.

"excellent work, Dr. Torres", Alex acknowledged, inclining his head respectfully towards Callie.

"thank you, Dr. Karev", Callie grinned wistfully.


	6. Chapter 6: mysterious morgan

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Penelope burst into the BAU through the open elevator doors like a song. She strode in, full-flight, and marched happily towards the far end of the pit.

"Garcia?", came Hotch's voice in surprise, stopping her in her tracks. "where are you going? I thought i gave you the day off."

Penelope shrugged, grinning from ear to ear. "the doctor said i could go back to work as long as i-" Penelope caught herself just in time. She was about to say, 'as long as i don't do anything that'll hurt the baby.' , but that was not how she wanted her team to find out. She would tell them when she was good and ready, god damn it! "- as long as i don't work too hard." there. That was the truth, even if the heart of the matter was missing.

"so you went to the doctor then?", Hotch asked, still unconvinced.

Penelope rolled her eyes. "yes. Her name was Callie. We got on really well. She's funny."

"wait, you went to the hospital?", Derek, who had been passing by, asked in concern. "you okay?"

"fine", Penelope lied easily, to her own surprise, "just a little bit of something. No worries, my love." then she turned to the room at large and said, "if anyone should need me, I'll be in my lair, with my digital children. Good day." and then she turned on her heels and left them all staring after her.

"well, she certainly looks healthier then this morning..", Reid observed, twiddling his pencil in between his long fingers.

"looks can be deceiving", Hotch added, still on alert. "she's hiding something, and that's not like her."

Derek scoffed at the pair of them. "if you ask me, it sounds exactly like her."

Hotch gave Morgan a questioning look. "what do you mean?"

Derek shrugged. "there are a whole lotta things that that girl keeps to herself, and she'd never even consider telling anyone", he answered. "trust me. I learnt a long time ago that no matter how good you think you know her, that girl is still full of surprises."

"well, Morgan, you know her best", Reid pointed out, "what do you think it might be?"

Derek chuckled. "i pretend to know her. She is a constant mystery to me."

Hotch gave Morgan a side-long look. Morgan was beginning to act strange as well. Maybe he should have the whole team checked over. "Morgan.. are you feeling alright?"

"me?", Derek asked, turning back the way he had previously come, "yeah, why wouldn't i be?"

Hotch and Reid exchanged an inside look. Something weird was going on here..

[a/n: yes, something weird IS going on with derek morgan. but is it good or bad? and will it become worse or better if he finds out garcia's little secret? find out soon!]


	7. Chapter 7: the smoking gun

[a/n: this is a little insight into what might have happened in vegas. so who do you think the father is? who do you hope the father will be? it may be obvious, or it may be the one you least expect. either way, you'll find out eventually, just as the team will. enjoy.]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Reid awoke from his dream in a cold sweat. The contents of his dream made his stomach turn with ill ease.  
>It had been hazed and blurry, but he distinctly remembered one terrifying thing about it- he'd been doing body shots with Garcia. After that, the rest went by in fragments and flashes.<br>But that wasn't what terrified him the most. The thing that struck fear into his heart was this; was it all a dream?... or was it a memory?

Hotch lay awake, staring at his ceiling, unable to sleep. There were just too many things to think about.  
>Was everyone acting off because of what had happened on their trip to Vegas?<br>Hotch felt guilty at having approved of such a trip in the first place, but they had all needed to unwind really badly, and well... what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, or so the motto went. He had thought that that would only mean they would all get a little too plastered and wake up with enormous head aches on the following Sunday, but he hadn't counted on there being other frustrations besides those having to do with the average work day along for the ride.  
>Hotch sighed and turned toward his window to stare at the glowing moon.<br>He hadn't thought about the dynamics of his team and how delicate that balance really was, and he should have.  
>He should have considered Garcia would most likely turn out to be a frisky drunk, given what she was like normally.<br>He should have volunteered to be the sober one in case of emergency, and he would have if he had been thinking clearly. If he had been thinking clearly, he could maybe have stopped the body shot competition between Reid, Morgan, and Garcia.  
>If he had been thinking clearly, he could have seen Garcia start to sway before she fell and maybe could have caught her. If he had been thinking clearly, he would have asked for help half-carrying, half-leading Garcia to her room.<br>he would have seen the warning signs in the way she had been talking to him. About his wife dying.. about how guilty she felt for him.. about how sorry she was. And even if he hadn't seen it coming then, the alerts should have went off when she'd turned the subject to how lonely he must feel.  
>But, he hadn't been thinking clearly. And, by the time she'd had him pinned to the bed, everything, every thought left, had flown from his mind.<br>Hotch sighed, turning towards the ceiling yet again.  
>Garcia seemingly hadn't remembered a single thing about the whole week, and that was just fine as far as Hotch was concerned. He didn't want her remembering that. He knew she would regret it for the rest of her life. She was sweet and he understood that it had come from good, if muddled, intentions, but really.. it was going a bit far trying to give yourself to someone, even a good friend, if you believed them to be lonely and broken.<br>Hotch shuddered, wholly embarrassed on her behalf. Sometimes he wondered about that woman..

Derek hadn't been able to shake the uneasy feeling in his heart all night, so he had found himself yet again in church, just after midnight, pondering his future and what he should do.  
>On the one hand he could ask her if she had meant all those things that she had said to him that Friday night, and on the other hand, he could just let her continue living her life without a clue of any of the events that had lead to him crossing the line and ending their friendship for what he had believed to be forever.<br>but she didn't remember. Not one thing. They could go back to the way things had been before that terrible night, and she would never know. He was the only one who would have to live with the guilt.  
>Or he could tell her. He could be a responsible adult, man up, and tell her. But he was afraid. She hadn't reacted well the first time, and he was willing to bet nothing would have changed since then.<br>He looked towards the heavens and prayed for guidance- what was he supposed to do?


	8. Chapter 8: the first plague

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Seven weeks had passed, and things had remained relatively the same within the BAU team. There had been trials and tribulations, but for the most part, everyone seemed to be happy. Morgan was being slightly distant and weird still, like he was afraid a bomb might go off at any second, Garcia kept taking every Tuesday and Sunday off to see the doctor without explanation, and Hotch and Reid were growing ever more suspicious, but either then that they all seemed fine. Yes, everything was just peachy in the FBI this morning... that is, it was... until Garcia arrived.

Penelope had been feeling rather off ever since dinner time the previous night, and the feeling had only worsened when she had tried to get up this morning. Despite being well on her way into her first trimester, she barely showed it at all. 'one of the benefits of being a curvy girl', she had sighed to herself ruefully, having some of her clothes refitted or reworked rather then going out and buying a new wardrobe altogether. But the nearer she got to the two to three month mark, the harder it was becoming to even fit into her modified outfits. And this morning, she had a sneaking suspicion another hurdle awaited her just beyond the corner... and she was right. She felt the roiling feeling in her stomach increase three fold as she entered the BAU proper. She flung out her right arm to the near by wall to steady herself as her vision swam slightly. "Oh lord..", she rasped, hoping against hope that the feeling would pass. "Not this, not now. Not when I'm at work and have no access to pain killers.."

Just then, JJ rounded the corner, papers in hand, when she spotted a sight that made her heart nearly fail; Garcia, trying bravely to keep herself standing as her body was wracked with some invisible pain. "Garcia!", JJ hastened to her friend's side, forgetting her errand for the time being, "What's wrong? What's happening to you? Does it have something to do with why you've been seeing a doctor?-"

"JJ...", Garcia cut across her friend with a weak wheeze. "Washroom... Help- me.."

"Oh!, Yeah!, Sure, Of course!", JJ slung Penelope's left arm around her neck and tried to alleviate some of the burden on her friend's legs, which were taking on the characteristics of jelly. "Do you think you can walk?", she asked her eyes full of fear and concern.

Penelope closed her eyes and slowed her breathing. Taking one big breath in, she reopened her eyes and held them in a determined glare. She was NOT going to be sick in the middle of this hallway. She was going to the washroom and then she could vomit all she pleased and that was the end of it. She gave JJ one quick nod of her head, and JJ then proceeded to guide Penelope gingerly down the halls on route to the nearest washroom. On rounding the third and blessedly final corner they came face to stoic face with the one person Penelope didn't want see under any circumstances in this state- Aaron frickin' Hotchner.

Upon seeing the pair and realizing the seriousness of the condition Penelope was in, his stoic expression hardened until he was practically made of living stone. He silently slung Penelope's right arm over his shoulders and helped usher them as far as the washroom door before finally muttering, "Take good care of her, JJ. I'll need to speak with her later. I'll fetch you some Advil from Dave's desk, and then leave you in peace."

"Yes, sir", JJ answered in grateful surprise, helping Penelope hobble the rest of the way into the washroom.

Hotch quickly jimmied the lock on Rossi's door, and proceeded towards the desk, rifling through empty liquor bottles and note pads until he found the bottle of pills he was looking for.

"Any particular reason you couldn't wait for me to show up with the key?", Rossi asked dryly, arriving just as Hotch had located the pain killers.

"Emergency", Hotch replied in a clipped tone, heading out of Rossi's office and back towards the washroom.

"And I take it it's one of our lovely ladies", Rossi commented, having followed Hotch, eager for answers and looked on with interest as the team leader knocked on the washroom door for a second time.

JJ popped her head out of the bathroom door, saw Hotch and the bottle of pain killers, and smiled, snatching them gratefully from his hand. "Thanks!", and with that, she closed the door again.

"Is JJ sick?", Rossi asked with a grimace as he heard what sounded like the beginnings of vomiting emanating from within the girl's washroom.

"No", Hotch replied, giving Rossi one of his most serious stares. "It's Garcia."

"Oh", Rossi winched sympathetically, "Boy, that's a tough one. What are you going to tell her?"

"The truth", Hotch answered, resigned.

"I don't think that's such a good idea-", Rossi tried to dissuade, but Hotchner shook his head.

"I don't have a choice. She has the right to know."

"Yeah, but Morgan-"

"Morgan had his chance to tell her, and he choose not to", Hotch shot back a tad too sharply. "No. It has to be me. She'll listen to me."

Rossi had to admire the kid, he had guts. "Alright, hot shot", he said, patting Hotchner on the back heartily. "If you're in for all of it, I'm right behind ya'. I can fill in some of the blanks you might have missed, lost as you were in tequila-ville."

"I didn't drink tequila", Hotch protested, a look of befuddlement on his face.

"Oh yes you did" Rossi assured, leading Hotch back to his office. "I remember because you spilled some on my shoes, which reminds me- You owe me a pair of real Italian leather shoes."

Hothcner looked daunted and Rossi just laughed.

"Come on, Mr. Once upon a big time lawyer. It's time to get our stories straight.."


	9. Chapter 9: an inconvieniant truth

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

JJ had managed to convince Penelope that she needed to tell Hotch what was going on with her, even if she wouldn't tell anyone else.

"But JJ-", Garcia began to protest, but JJ held up her hand, demanding silence.

"But nothing, P. Whatever it is, Hotch needs to know. It's effecting you at work and he is your boss. Now march on over to his office and TALK with him!"

"Why do you hurt me?", Garcia whined as JJ steered her towards Hotch's office.

"It's for your own good", JJ replied sternly, leaving her in Hotch's open doorway.

Penelope looked longingly back at JJ's retreating form.

"Garcia..", warned Hotch's voice, breaking through her thoughts of desertion.

Penelope sighed, resigned, and shuffled into her boss' office, closing the door behind her. "You wanted to speak with me, sir?", Penelope asked, stating the obvious.

"Yes", Hotch began slowly, folding his hands in a neat pile in front of him. "I would rather not ask you why you take ever Tuesday and Sunday off to see a doctor, because I believe that privacy is very important, especially in a job such as ours, but today you left me no choice. Not that I think it was your fault, but here we are. I would like you to know that whatever you choose to tell me, it will not leave this room."

"Even Rossi?", Penelope asked shrewdly.

Hotch made a 'ack, I've been foiled' face, but then promised reluctantly, "Even Dave."

Penelope looked at the few specks of dirt on his office floor as she mumbled, "I'm... pregnant."

Hotch gave Penelope an unreadable stare.

"And it most likely happened on our trip to Vegas."

Hotch continued to stare at her.

"And I don't remember a thing from the whole damned week", she finished, finally looking up from the floor.

Hotch paused, thinking carefully about his next choice of words. "Would you... like me to tell you... what I... might remember?"

Penelope's eyes widened in fear, relief, surprise, and hopefulness all at once. She had no idea what to do with this proposition. It had never occurred to her that anyone one else might remember who she'd been hanging around with that might turn out to be the father of her child to be, but now that Hotch had said it, it made her feel incredibly stupid. "Yes, I would very much like to know", Penelope answered without thinking. "Wait!", she shrieked suddenly as Hotch opened his mouth to begin the tale, "No! I don't want to know! It's probably bad, isn't it? That's why you didn't say anything sooner, it's 'cause it's bad, and you're afraid it'll hurt me- Oh my god, please don't tell if it's bad!" Penelope squealed, chewing the ends of her fingers with nervous energy.

"Penelope..", Hotch sighed, shaking his head and almost wanting to smile at her antics, "It's not so much bad as it is, well, embarrassing."

"Omgod", Penelope groaned, as she smoshed her face into her hands. "So it is bad then", she added, giving into curiosity over terror in resigned sort of way.

"Let me start from about the beginning.. ", Hotch continued, trying to get the story out before she changed her mind again. "We were all drinking.. a lot, as Dave informed me-"

"I knew he knew!", Penelope burst in, slightly angry at Dave. "That dirty rat! He's too nosey for his own good."

"Yes, well, be that as it may", Hotch bravely soldiered on, finding it difficult to gain momentum with Penelope interrupting and freaking out, "He was very helpful in filling in the parts that were a bit hazy-"

"Wait", Penelope halted the conversation again, distracted, "you? You were hammered? You?"

"Would you let me finish this, please?", Hotch asked, having finally had enough of her interruptions.

Penelope rolled her eyes and sighed. "I'm sorry. It's just.. I've been agonizing over this ever since I found out, and now all of the questions I kept inside are exploding out of me like frackin' popcorn of doom, and my hormones are all wonky, so I never realize I'm babbling until-" Penelope glanced up at Hotch's face and saw him glaring impatiently at her, "-Yeah.. Um, Sorry", she finished lamely, turning her head away.

"Thank you", Hotch nodded, clearing his throat, "I guess I should have told you to 'hold all questions until the end'?" he quirked a smile at her, and then she understood that he wasn't really mad with her, so she smiled shyly back. "Right- We were all drinking", Hotch began afresh. "Getting steadily more drunk as day two rolled around, finally culminating in a , to use Dave's description, 'drinking contest extravaganza' on the Wednesday night of that week. It all started when Emily bet Dave she could drink him under the table easily. Well, those of us who had seen Dave drink before.. Let's just say no one was rooting for Emily-"

"Yeah", Penelope agreed, nodding. That man's liver was a well stewed bit of slab by now.

"-So, the choice of liquor was made, real Russian vodka, definitely not the cheap stuff, and the shots were lined along the table. And so their battle began. Meanwhile, JJ had bet me that I couldn't drink three shots of tequila without at least getting slightly buzzed, and I, though I can see how foolish it was now, bravely took the bet believing that I could act my way out of it."

Penelope giggled. She could picture the scene quite clearly now. Even if she never actually remembered what had happened that week, knowing her colleges as well as she did, she could most definitely imagine it.

"after I had somehow managed to convince JJ I was fine, even after an extra two shots, and David and Emily were still battling away, neither willing to give in by a long stretch, you began to complain to Morgan that you felt left out, and wanted to get in on the fun-"

Penelope's breath caught in her chest at the mention of her involvement. This was the part she had been dreading and hoping for. The truth.

"-Reid was your, as he put it at the time, 'designated drinking buddy', which you stipulated to mean anything that you drank, Reid had to drink the same or the 'manly equivalent'-"

Penelope nodded. That sounded like her.

"-And so when a body shot competition was instigated between you and Morgan, Reid was, again as you put it, 'obliged' to join in-"

"Oh god, Please don't tell me I slept with Reid..", Penelope muttered through her fingers, mortified.

"No, I don't believe you did", Hotch tried to assure her, "but there were four more days after which I have no memory of, so I can't really be sure, but-"

"Wait, What happened to you after-", Penelope counted on her fingers to make sure she was figuring right, "-Thursday?"

"I went on a guilty bender", Hotch answered, much to Penelope's shock and awe, "But that comes later. Firstly, more about your body shot contest; if I had only been thinking more clearly, I could have probably stopped you all before you had gotten to the point of no return-"

"What do you mean 'the point of no return'?", Penelope asked, fear twisting her heart.

"You weren't paying attention to how much alcohol you all were consuming and you were having to much fun to realize one of you might get hurt-"

Penelope gasped, standing up from her seat suddenly. She'd had a flash of a blurry, dizzy mess and then had felt herself fall to the floor. The sensation was odd, like a flesh memory. She frowned, resuming her seat, and thinking over what it could mean. "I think.. I think I remember falling..", she whispered, half to herself, half to Hotch.

Hotch's spine straightened as he went on alert. "What else do you remember?"

Penelope scrunched up her eyes and forehead in concentrated thought. "I-", she began, but her memory failed her again. "Nothing. I- I just wish- Grr, Roar, Nope, It's gone."

"Would you like me to continue then?", Hotch asked apprehensively, now that the truth was so close, and he feared her reaction.

"Yes, Lay it on me", Penelope assured, gathering her courage.

Hotch winched at the irony in her words. She was so good at doing that without even meaning to. "Then I helped you off the floor-"

"Oh", Penelope smiled heartwarmingly at Hotchner, "That's so sweet. Thank you."

Hotch shook his head. "Please don't.."

"But it was sweet-", Penelope began to protest, believing Hotch was just being all modest.

"No. Really, Don't", Hotch insisted, giving her a rather serious stare, "This next part is.. even more embarrassing.."

Penelope felt the dread in her heart begin to build again."Why?", she asked, wishing for an answer less and less. And a thought was beginning to creep through her mind.. No. It was impossible. She hadn't. She couldn't have. Why would she?

"When you fell, I realized too late that you had taken the competition too far", Hotch continued, stalling the inevitable, "So I volunteered to take you back to your room. Effectively cutting you off from the major supply of liquor, and hoping that if you slept it off, you would feel better and the guilt from letting you, or any of the team, drink this much would resolve itself later." Hotch looked Penelope directly in the eyes. She had turned extremely pale with fright and was breathing rather irregularly. "I was wrong. For me, the guilt was only just beginning.." Hotch paused, wishing to add something positive to his tale of doom and gloom. "You were very grateful to me for having 'saved you from certain destruction', as you put it, and you kept talking to me virtually non-stop about how kind I was, and what a great person I was, and various bits of nonsense all the way up your room. I'd had to kind of drag you there, by the way, and you weren't making it easy either. I mean, you could walk, but only just, and you'd want to stop with every new topic of conversation so that it was really late by the time we got there. Anyway, I didn't mind too much really, I just wanted to make sure you were safe. It took a joint effort to locate your key card, which you ended up finding strapped to your hip with some sort of garter belt- don't ask my why!", Hotch interrupted his own story as Penelope opened her mouth with a furrowed brow, "I don't know! Let's just put it down to your... 'unique' dressing habits.."

Penelope nodded after consideration and waved for him to continue.

"Yes, well, I should have known this was coming. You're so 'flirty' in normal everyday life, and it turned out alcohol only amplified this effect, so.. do I really have to say it? It think you know where this is going.."

Penelope's heart crumbled like shattered glass and her face flushed a deep pink color. The truth. At last she had the truth.

"I.. I.. I'm sorry, sir", Penelope apologized. "I really don't know what to say."

"A combination of you kissing me and the tequila finally catching up with me wiped my memory after that. All I remember is waking up the next morning in my own room with Dave snoring loudly in the next bed over, wondering if it had all been some crazy dream, and being too afraid to ask you if it was true. And so the guilty bender began, effectively erasing the rest of the trip, or a good chunk of it anyway." he paused, waiting for Penelope's full reaction.

She thought this over carefully. "So.. you only might be, you know, the father?", Penelope asked.

"As far as I know, Yes", Hotch answered honestly. "You, Erm, You're very 'persuasive' when you want to be, and you kept insisting that it was okay to 'help friends' sometimes, and even though I kept trying my best to escape.. well, you're a lot stronger then I would have assumed.."

Penelope nodded, thinking hard. "But then how?... You ended up back in your own room?"

Hotch shrugged, at a loss. "I can only assume magic or sorcery was involved."

Penelope's mind clicked back into place and for a brief moment, she thought she remembered Hotch's blurry shadow leaving a room, but she couldn't be sure.

"I, Um, I would be willing to take some sort of test, if that was necessary", Hotch added rather hesitantly.

"Yeah", Penelope agreed, still lost in thought, "Yeah, Callie said to wait until after the baby was born 'cause it'd be safer.. You really don't remember anything else?"

Hotch relented slightly. "Well, a little. I remember some of the things you said.. please don't make me repeat them", Hotch begged.

"Oh g-, Agreed", Penelope said, waving her hand in finality.

"I also remember the fight", Hotch muttered, hoping her attention wouldn't catch on that.

but it did. "Wait, What fight?", Penelope gasped and covered her mouth with her fingers in horror. "Did we have a fight?"

"Ah, No. Actually, Morgan and I had a small altercation, after he found out about.. you know.."

"Oh my god, are you okay?", Penelope asked, her eyes full of concern. "Did he hurt you?"

"Well, yes. I was still partially drunk at the time, so he caught me off guard, but I'm fine now."

"Wait, Why aren't you guys all.. you know, still fighting and angry?", Penelope asked.

"After we punched each other for a while, he finally let me tell my part of the story and we worked it out. You, on the other hand, were less easily swayed."

"What did I do?", Penelope asked, frightened of the answer.

"You slapped us both quite hard in the face, and told us off in a very long, slightly impressive speech which ended in you telling Morgan that your friendship was over, which I thought was a little harsh even considering, and you stormed away to, I would assume, have a good long fume slash cry."

Penelope bit her lip in utter embarrassment. "Again, sir, I would like to point out that I'm very sorry about that."

"It's alright", Hotch assured her, waving a dismissive hand, "You are not to blame. The team is my responsibility. It's my job to keep you all safe and sound.. and I guess I picked the worst possible time to screw it all up."

"Aaron Hothcner!", Penelope scolded, "You stop that guilt trip right this minute! We are all in charge of our own destinies and constitutions, and I'll be damned if you take all this blame onto yourself! I am just as guilty as you are, if not more so, actually, probably more so, and I don't want to hear another apology or self deprecating remark out of you, is that clear?"

"Yes, ma'am", Hotch agreed in slight surprise.

"Good", Penelope huffed, straightening her light sweater at the ends, "Now, I have one more question before I go.."

"Yes?", Hotch asked, slightly wary now.

"Do you know why I don't remember any of this? I mean, I know I was drinking and what not, but I should remember something from the trip. I mean, I wasn't drunk the entire time, was I?"

Hotch furrowed his brow in thought. "You know.. I don't think you were, drunk the whole time I mean. That is odd.."

"What do think it could be then? Was it the fall or something?"

"No..", Hotch answered hesitantly, "I don't think it was the fall.. maybe you took something?"

Penelope snorted with sarcastic laughter, "Yeah, Like what a roofy?"

Hotch actually considered this seriously. "It could be possible.."

Penelope balked. "You can't be serious!"

"Since when have you ever known me to be anything other then serious?", Hotch asked. "besides, it would explain the complete loss of memory as opposed to fragmented memory that is usually associated with the mass consumption of alcohol."

"Great!", Penelope threw up her hands in frustration, "Not only did I potentially sleep with my boss, but some pervert might have drugged me! Awesome! Just flippin' fantastic!" and then she burst into tears.

"Penelope!", Hotch cried out in concern, moving out from behind his desk and bending down beside where she sat to comfort her. "Penelope.. look at me.."

"I- I- I'm s-s-sorry, boss man", she sobbed. "B-but, I c-c-can't right n-now-"

"Miss Garcia, I order you to look at me", Hotch barked, but in a caring way.

Penelope raised her tear-stained face to met her boss' steady eyes.

"You will be okay", Hotch soothed in a gentle tone, filled with quiet kindness. "You will be alright. No matter what happens, no matter who the father of your baby is, you will make it through this and you want to know why?"

"Why?", Penelope croaked, sniffling.

"Because you're the strongest person I know", Hotch answered with a small hinting smile.

Penelope chuckled slightly, "You're awful, you know that, right?"

"That's not what I meant", Hotch said, feigning innocence.

"Uh-ha", Penelope nodded, not believing him for one second.

"You have a strong soul", Hotch rumbled good-naturedly, "and it shines like the light from the sun."

"You're a goof ball", Penelope sighed, wiping away her tears on her sleeve and wrapping her startled boss in an enormous hug. "Thank you..", she whispered in his ear.

"Always", Hotch affirmed, hugging her back.


	10. Chapter 10: mother knows

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

JJ stood in Penelope's doorway, watching her friend work. She clutched a blanket in her hands. It was soft, warm, fuzzy, small and yellow. It was a baby's blanket. JJ slipped quietly into the room, and tapped her friend on the shoulder.

Penelope gave a small start of surprise, and looked JJ up and down.

"Here", JJ said, placing the blanket across her friend's stomach carefully.

"What is it?", Penelope asked, confused.

"When I was pregnant with Henry, I used to use this to keep the bad stuff from getting to him", JJ explained. "Whenever I sorted through case files or watched horrible things happening to victims, I would always make sure he was underneath this blanket so the unsubs couldn't get to him."

"But.. why are you giving it to me?", Penelope asked warily.

"I figured you needed it more than me right now, seeing as how I've been knocked up before and put two and two together this morning when you were sick in the washroom."

Penelope half smiled shyly. "I had you all fooled for a while though.."

JJ snorted. "Barely", she jibbed, prodding her friend in the shoulder. "So..", she asked, changing tack, "does Kevin know?"

"No", Penelope growled in warning to JJ, "And no one is ever going to tell that bastard if I have anything to say about it."

"Woah!", JJ held her arms out in front of herself in shock. "Since when have you called Kevin a bastard?"

"Since he walked out on me", Penelope grumbled. "Well, more like stormed out on me, but I don't care. He can go rot in H-E-double sippy straws for all the grief he's caused me.."

"Penelope, why didn't you tell us Kevin left you?", JJ asked, aghast.

"Because it wasn't important", Penelope dismissed, trying to pretend she was working again.

JJ grabbed Penelope's hands away from her keyboard and forced Penelope to look her in the eyes. "Just like it wasn't important to tell us you are preggo?", JJ asked seriously.

"Those are two completely different things", Penelope argued.

"What are you talking about?", JJ asked in confusion. "Kevin's the father, right?"

Penelope paused, her mouth hanging open in suspended argument. She'd been caught like a rabbit in the snare. She worked in the world's worst place to try and keep a secret. "Maybe?", she squeaked out guiltily.

JJ blinked and did a double take. "Say what?"

Penelope sighed. And so it begins.. "It could also be anyone who went with us on the trip to Vegas.." she hung her head in defeat.

"Oh my god, P", JJ gasped, her eyes widening in sympathetic horror. "And Hotch knows?"

"He's the one that confirmed my suspicions", Penelope admitted.

"Holy heck on a hot plate", JJ tutted, shaking her head in disbelief. And then a thought occurred to her. "Wait, When you said 'anyone'?.. does that mean Hotch could be the father too?"

Penelope smiled grimly. "I love no matter how many times I hear it said like that, it still makes me sound like a slut", she retorted pointedly.

"I'm sorry, P, but is there really any other way?", JJ asked.

"I suppose..", Penelope sighed. "And to answer your first question, Yes. Hotch actually seems pretty certain he is a viable candidate."

"Details?", JJ asked, smirking wickedly.

"JJ!", Penelope scolded, laughing at her friend's sudden bought of perverted-ness.

"Sorry..", JJ muttered, still grinning.

"And they think I'm bad for getting dirty, geez louis..", Penelope tutted, shaking her head.

JJ shrugged nonchalantly. "Girls wanna know", she defended.

"Yeah, well as soon as I do, you'll be the first I spill to, okay?", Penelope sighed, raising a sarcastic eyebrow.

"Wait, You don't remember anything? Nothing? Not even the fight?", JJ asked, disbelievingly.

"How do you know about the fight?", Penelope asked in surprise, turning back towards her friend. "And how come you didn't tell me?"

JJ shrugged. "I guess I thought you two had resolved it."

"Us two?", asked Penelope, even more confused. "What do you mean?"

"You and Morgan.. What fight did you think I meant?"

"Hotch and Morgan.. I had another fight with Morgan?"

"Man, what did I miss?", JJ wondered aloud. "Yeah, You had a fight with Morgan on the Friday of that week. I could hear you yelling at each other in the room next to mine. I couldn't make out what you were saying, but there was no happiness there for sure."

Penelope shook her head. "If he's so angry with me or I'm so angry with him, why hasn't he said anything about it? He's been acting as if everything's fine. It just doesn't make any sense."

"Maybe he managed to come up with a suitable apology?", JJ guessed. "I don't know. Whatever it is, it couldn't be that serious, right?"

"Maybe..", Penelope hesitantly agreed, drifting deep into thought. Why had she fought with Derek? What was so bad that she had considered ending their friendship? Was it just the alcohol talking? All of these questions were making her already dizzy head spin..


	11. Chapter 11: once upon a midnight dreary

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Penelope woke from her dream in a cold sweat. She had dreamt that someone was on top of her, grinding into her naked body, and holding her pinned to a bed against her will. She had tried to fight whoever it was off of her, but it had been like her limbs were asleep and separate from her. In the dream, her mind had swam and flowed in twists and the sicking sound of churning water pounded out all other sounds, except the occasional gasp for air. Penelope shook her head violently to dispel these thoughts, as tears rolled down her face. She clutched her stomach unconsciously, and tried desperately to hold back a torrent of sobs. The disgusting dark thoughts that were creeping and closing in on heart were so painful it was almost unbearable. She didn't want this baby anymore. She barely wanted to live at this point. The thought of some slimy creeps demon seed growing in her insides made her feel infected. Possessed. Like a piece of gobbed up, thoroughly used tissue. She caught her reflection in her mirror. The sight of it frightened her. It made everything seem too real. Like she'd woken up from her nightmare into a bigger nightmare. She grabbed her cell beside her bed and pressed a random number on her speed-dial.

"Hello?", asked the tired sounding women on the other end.

"I'm sorry", Penelope half-whispered, half-sobbed into her end of the phone call, "I woke you. I'll call back tomorrow-"

"Wait, Penelope?", the woman's voice, sounding more awake now, suddenly realized. "Are you alright? Is something wrong with the baby?"

"I- I need to.. see you, if that's alright..", Penelope continued to sob.

"Yes!, Of course!", the women answered, flinging herself out of bed, "Do you have someone to drive you?"

Penelope shook her head, forgetting the other woman couldn't see her. "I'll d-drive mys-self-"

"No. Uh uh, little missy", the woman disagreed vehemently. "You are staying put. Give me your address, I'll find you."

"You don't have to-" Penelope began to protest, but the other woman was having none of that.

"Just shut up and listen to your doctor, would ya?", Callie barked, slipping on her shoes and pulling on her coat at the same time.


	12. Chapter 12: when it rains, it pours

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

It was raining cats and dogs outside the hospital when Callie arrived, feeling as though someone had just reached in her chest and punched her in the heart.

Alex looked up from his charts at his slightly sodden college and smirked. "Wow. Don't you look like ten piles of crap-", he began.

"Penelope thinks she may have been raped", Callie croaked listlessly.

"Oh my god..", Alex said, his attitude vanishing in an instant. "Callie.. I'm sorry."

"I had to give her a sedative to make her fall back asleep", Callie rasped, leaning her elbows on the front desk and running her hands through her hair in frustrated defeat. "She had a nightmare."

"It must have been bad then?", Alex asked, putting his arm around Callie for what little comfort that would give.

"She called me in the middle of the night in tears", Callie said, looking up at Alex. "She never calls me. Ever. She barely has any complaints when I do her check ups and they only usually take about a few minutes. Something must have happened to her to make her start thinking these things."

"She wouldn't tell you?", Alex asked.

Callie shook her head sadly. "She mentioned something about getting sick at work yesterday, and having a talk with her boss about why she'd been coming to see me, but other then that.. I think I'm going to have to have a talk with him now."

"Why?", Alex asked. "You don't think he hurt her, do you?"

"No", Callie admitted, "but maybe he knows more then he's letting on.. I dunno. I've gotta do something. She needs answers, and fast."

"Do you want me to come with you?", Alex offered.

"How noble of you, Dr. Karev, but no. I'll be fine", Callie said, straightening herself up to her full height. "Could you find some way to cover for me though?"

"Most definitely", Alex nodded, heading down the hallways in search of recruits. "Find the bastard, and give him a punch for me on behalf of everyone's favorite momma?"

"You know it!", Callie smiled, exiting the building and heading out towards the headquarters of the FBI.

[a/n: so... twisted turn of events? yes. extremely dark in nature? most definitely. possibly roofy induced memory/nightmare that isn't at all what it first seems to be?... like i said... possibly... is Callie going to end up spilling the beans to one more member of the team? *giggles maniacally* well, i'm not sure really, but now i've got you thinking about it, haven't i? oooh! what if that's how morgan finds out? ha ha HA! that'd stir things up, wouldn't it? ;) cheers.]


	13. Chapter 13: an F'ing mess

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Dr. Torres stepped uncertainly into the main offices of the behavioral analysis unit, located in the headquarters for the FBI, Quantico, Virginia. The very nice lady at reception had given her a visitors pass and detailed directions regarding her desired destination. She'd thanked the woman most graciously, garnered a smile in return and a wish of luck, and had taken the elevator to the correct floor. Now she stood, gazing around the room and biting her lower lip uncertainly; She'd forgotten to ask which office belonged to the team's leader, and it was getting more and more unsettling the longer she stood thinking about it.

"You look lost", came the amused honey satin voice, the owner of which was slowly breaking out into his patented thousand watt smile.

Dr. Torres slowly broke out into a grin of her own. "You must be Derek", she smiled, giving Derek an appraising glance. Ship of gorgeousness indeed..

A look of mild surprise passed over Derek's face. "I'm sorry.. have we met?", Derek apologized.

Callie laughed. "No, but I have heard a lot about you." Callie extended her hand towards Derek by way of greeting, "Hi. Callie Torres. I'm Penelope's doctor."

Derek shook Callie's hand, nodding. "Nice to meet you, Dr. Torres. I've been wondering where my baby girl's been going every Tuesday and Sunday, and now I guess I have my answer." he smiled endearingly.

Callie smiled back. 'aw, that's adorable. He really does call her baby girl all the time', Callie thought to herself. "Yeah, if I didn't schedule the appointments, I doubt she'd show", Callie chuckled. "She can be pretty stubborn when she wants to be. She always insists she can handle everything herself if I just tell her what to do."

Derek rolled his eyes in shared humor. "Don't I know it.. even when she got shot that time, she insisted on coming back to work right away until we let her. Hotch had to ban her while she was still recovering though." then a thought occurred to him. "Is she doing alright?", he asked, concerned.

Callie's attention grabbed onto that point. "Well, that's actually why I'm here. I need to talk with her boss about something.. Do you know where his office is? I forgot to ask reception.."

"Hotch?", Derek asked in surprise. "Yeah, Sure. His office is right over there", Derek answered helpfully, pointing it out to her. "What's wrong with Penelope?" he asked more worry creeping into his voice, giving it a slightly demanding quality.

"Nothing", Callie tried brush off casually. "I just have a few questions for him, and then I'll be on my way. Thank you. It was really nice getting the chance to meet you." and with that, she strode off towards the aforementioned office.

"Yeah.. Nice to meet you too..", Derek muttered in worried disappointment. Was something really wrong with his goddess? Was it about their trip to Vegas? Fear gripped Derek's heart. Had Penelope remembered something about the Thursday of that week? What if they found out? What if Dr. Torres knew his secret and was going to tell Hotch? Derek's heart began to pound hard in his chest. What was he supposed to have done? Well, that wasn't a fair question. If he had been thinking clearly, what he should have done was rationally help Penelope work through her problems without resorting to extremes. What he should have done was realized even if he hadn't agreed to drugging her himself, she still had the pills and was more then desperate enough at that point to use them. He also should have realized that getting wasted to drown his misery wasn't going to help anyone, especially when said drunk returns to check on his brokenhearted best friend, only to be dragged into bed by her drug addled self. Derek paced for a few steps, then headed to his office to think. What an F'ing mess..

[a/n: and so mysterious morgan's mysterious story shall be revealed soon. enjoy.]


	14. Chapter 14: callie cuts a deal

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Callie knocked on Hotch's door.

"Come in", came the muffled reply.

Callie opened his office door cautiously and peeked inside. "Agent Hotchner?", she asked.

Hotch looked up from his paperwork with a slightly puzzled expression. "Yes. Can I help you?"

"Hi. I'm Callie Torres", Callie beamed stepping into Hotch's office and sitting in a chair in front of his desk. "Miss Garcia's doctor? I've come here on her behalf to discuss somethings with you, if that's alright."

"Of course", Hotch obliged, extending his hand for Callie to shake.

"I appreciate it, thank you", Callie said, accepting his hand.

"Not at all", said Hotch, re-seating himself. "What do you wish to discuss?", he asked, folding his hands in front of himself and preparing to give the doctor his full attention.

"Well", Callie began, choosing her wording carefully. "There are some things that have come to light recently having to do with Penelope's situation-"

"I know about the baby, Dr. Torres", Hotch wished to make his position clear.

"Yes, She informed me of that last night", Callie nodded, not minding when anyone interrupted her all that much. "What I wished to know was, where did she glean the idea that she may have been drugged and assaulted?"

a look of surprise and uncertainty flashed across Hotch's face. "We discussed the possibility the other day when she became severely ill on premises", Hotch answered warily. "I compared her loss of memory to that of someone who had been heavily drugged as apposed to someone who was suffering from alcohol induced 'amnesia'. I'm sure you would agree that the more likely culprit in this situation would surely be the drug option, taking into account the seemingly complete loss of memory."

"Oh, I do agree, sir", Callie assured Hotch, "however, the nightmare is my main concern here."

"Nightmare?", Hotch asked, puzzled.

"Yes. Miss Garcia called me in the middle of the night, sobbing uncontrollably, and wishing to see me right away", Callie explained. "She never calls me or has any complaints, so this sent alarm bells through my mind immediately. I acquired her address, and because she insisted on driving herself, I went to see her instead of allowing her to come and see me."

Hotch nodded.

"When I arrived at miss Garcia's apartment, she began to tell me about this nightmare she had just experienced", Callie continued. "it was horrific to say the least, and she refused to go back to sleep. I had to administer a sedative in order for her to return to bed. She seemed fairly certain that this dream was a suppressed memory rather then just a terrifying nightmare."

"And in the nightmare, she believes she was being assaulted?", Hotch asked, aghast.

"She believes so, yes", confirmed Callie, nodding.

Hotch considered this, and then asked, "What information do you wish to acquire here?"

"I would like to know if you may have seen something or heard something to confirm this travesty", Callie answered. "Even the smallest thing could help."

"Dr. Torres, I am a profiler", agent Hotchner stated, trying to convey this point clearly. "I question people in this manner for a living. I have gone through every brain exercise I can think of, every scrap of my memory, ever since my conversation with miss Garcia and I had ruled out the possibility of someone drugging her until this very moment. There is nothing that I remember that would suggest that she was harmed in anyway other then the obvious liver damage, and subsequent brain damage, yet you have thrown doubt on that. The only way I can see of putting miss Garcia's mind at ease at this juncture would be to interview everyone on my team to see if they can remember anything."

"Exactly", Callie nodded.

Hotch stared at Dr. Torres in disbelief. "She'll never agree to that."

Callie sighed. "I know, that's why I'll need your help in convincing her."

"And what makes you think she'll listen to me?", Hotch wanted to know, "She is very.. stubborn when she wants to be.."

"Yes", Callie nodded in complete agreement, "So I've heard and experienced before, but agent Hotchner-" Callie looked up at Hotch with pleading, honest eyes. "-she has not even told her secret to her closest friend, if I understood her correctly, and she told me she could usually tell him anything. the point I'm trying to make here, agent Hotchner is, she told you. She trusts you. For some reason, somehow, she trusts you over everyone else on your team. It has to be you."

Hotch considered all of Callie's words carefully and then nodded. "I will do this because I can see no other alternative. Miss Garcia is our light. She is the glue that holds our team together. We can not let our light go out. I will not permit it. How do you wish to proceed?"

"Alphabetically?", Callie suggested.

"Agreed", Hotch nodded. That meant the first interview would be Garcia herself. He was not looking forward to this..


	15. Chapter 15: tampering with time

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN.. i merely play with fire sometimes...

When Garcia saw her doctor sitting in a chair across from her boss, her heart dropped faster then a cold stone. "You told him", she wheezed in a hurt and slightly angry voice. "How could you tell him?"

"Penelope, we think it's time to come clean", Callie began as gently as she could. This was going to be worse then trying to set the femur of a squirmy seven year old boy..

"No!", Penelope cried, outraged, tears forming in her eyes, "You lied to me!"

"I lied because I had to", Callie corrected Penelope calmly. "and now the time for lying has passed. Please, Sit down."

"I will not sit down!", Penelope barked sharply, furious eyes darting from Callie to Hotch, "I will not stand for this! I'm not gonna even stay for this!-" Penelope turned on her heels and marched back out of her team leader's office, with a shocked Callie and Hotch following close behind. "I can not believe you told him, or came here at all!", Penelope continued in a stricken whisper, knowing Callie was directly behind her. "How could you do this to me? I trusted you!"

"It was necessary, Penelope!", Callie whispered back in an equal huff, "And we wanted to spare you the embarrassment of having this argument made overly public!"

Penelope jerked around abruptly and came nose to nose with her doctor, "What are you talking about?", Penelope hissed furiously.

Callie gave her a 'look around, dippy' look and gestured to where they were standing.

Penelope looked around her, suddenly very, very aware of her surroundings. They were on the main landing.. in full view of the entire bullpen. Not only were her friends staring up at her, but also agents Penelope didn't really know all the well or at all really. She blanched as the angry blood drained from her veins. "Oh.."

Callie looked at Garcia pointedly and held out her hand to the frazzled tech.

Penelope took the offered hand gratefully and allowed herself to be led back to her team leader's office and seated properly.

Rossi and Hotch exchanged a look as Hotch closed his office door.

Oh my, it seemed kitten was in trouble yet again..

"Now", Callie began anew now that Penelope had become compliant, "We are going to attempt to get a clearer picture of what happened to you on the infamous trip to Vegas. And for that, we have to agree on something."

"Which is?", Penelope asked, still reeling from the embarrassment of having so many eyes on her.

"We are going to have to interview everyone who went on that trip with you", Callie stated cautiously.

"No", that had snapped Penelope out of her tirade of self pitying thoughts, "No. No. No. I do not agree to this. I will not be some victim whose life gets picked apart by profilers, No!"

"But, isn't that what you do for a living?", Callie asked, confused.

Penelope shook her head, "That's what my team does. Not me. Never me. It's not my thing. I just do searches, file files, flirt occasionally, but that's it."

"So it's different when it's you we're trying to help?", Hotch asked, knowing the battle was still ahead of them, and really wanting to win it. "It's okay when it's someone else, some stranger that we're trying to get the help they need and deserve, but when it's you, we shouldn't care that it might heal you to figure out the truth? We should just let the darkness win because team members are out of bounds?"

Penelope paused, uncertain how to reply to that. She, of all of them, was the one who sought justice for all the hardest. Was she being a hypocrite not accepting their help? The little voice in the back of her mind was telling her 'yes'. But she didn't care about little voices right now. She wanted her secrets. She wanted trust. She wanted to hide and hide and hide.

Hotch saw the reluctance in her eyes. "I know this scares you, Penelope", he spoke gently, reaching out to her with his words. "But, Isn't it worth it? In the end? You'll know all you can know and then there will be relief? A plan? You don't have to do this alone. None of the team will judge you. They'll just be your friends. I know you know it's true." Hotch gave her a small hopeful smile.

Penelope couldn't help it. She returned his smile. "I really, really, really hate profilers", she muttered.

"Why do you work with them then?", Callie asked with a laugh.

Penelope shrugged, resigned to the fact that her team was going to find out sooner or later, they were dirty, rotten, no good profilers after all. "I must be masochist", she sighed. "So, How we gonna do this?"

"We interview the team one by one", Hotch explained, "Starting with you."

Penelope laughed dryly. "This is gonna be one short interview."

"Indeed", Hotch agreed. "Callie will be here to observe. Shall we begin?"

Callie nodded, extracting a pen and a pad of paper from her purse.

"Good. Miss Garcia, what is the first thing you remember about our trip to Vegas?"

"I already told Callie that", Penelope protested.

"It won't hurt to review", Hotch insisted, "We need all the facts.. Continue.."

"Well, like I told Dr. Torres, all I remember is getting on the jet, arriving at the hotel, drawing straws to see who would have to bunk with Reid, and heading out with you guys to the bar on Tuesday night. Then anything after that is one sort of memory of maybe falling and everything you told me. That's it. That's all I know."

"And the nightmare", Hotch added quietly.

"And.. the nightmare", Penelope reluctantly affirmed, "but it was probably just a nightmare."

"Hopefully", Hotch amended, causing Penelope to tense. "Are you sure that's all you remember? Close your eyes.. Think back.."

Penelope glared at Hotch. "I'm not doing a cognitive interview."

"Yes, you are. We all are", Hotch glared back. He won, but only just.

Penelope closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She could hear Callie scratching away on her notepad, and their collective inhales and exhales. She tried to focus.

"What is the last thing you remember?", Hotch asked softly, staring at her intently. He could profile her easier now that she wasn't shooting him warning looks.

"I remember..", Penelope began, actually trying so as not to waste anymore time then she needed to. "It's weird.."

"Weird how?", Hotch asked.

"It's.. It's like my memories are stuck on a loop, with small chucks missing", Penelope answered, eyes still closed. "I remember the jet, the hotel, the straws, then going out, but when I hit Wednesday, it's like.. it's like it never happened. Like someone went in and edited all the junk in my head. It just flashes to getting back on the jet... not even getting back on the jet. It just flashes to being on the jet and heading home." Penelope opened her eyes, worry evident. "That's really far from normal, isn't it?"

"There are two possible explanations", Hotch answered, levelling with her, "either someone has gone in and tampered with your memories.. or you yourself are suppressing them."

Penelope didn't like the sound of either of those alternatives. "how could someone have tampered with my memories?"

"Well, other than alcohol and a select number of drugs, the answer appears to be inconclusive", Hotch replied with regret. "Maybe the others will be of more assistance."

Penelope heard a second meaning in his words. "That means I can go?"

"For now", Hotch nodded, gesturing for her to do so.

"Thank you", she breathed gratefully, wanting to escape worse then anything.

"Stay close though, Garcia", Hotch warned. "We may need you again."

Penelope nodded even though she was extremely against returning to this interrogation and left without a proper good-bye.

"Well, that was-", Callie sighed.

"Yeah", Hotch agreed.

"Who's next then?", Callie asked.

Hotch turned to look at the doctor fully. "That.. would be me."

[a/n: hit a wall with this one... no idea what to write for hotch besides re-hashing the old stuff, and i don't really want to do that. plus, the pressure of everything that comes after hotch's interview is pressing on my brain and making my writer's block worse. i know what everyone else's story should be, but hotch. any suggestions? any questions that need to cleared up besides the obvious 'is he the father?' one. let me know please, because i can not update until i write hotch's part. love y'all. peace.]


	16. Chapter 16: JJ's tale

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Hotch had just finished recounting his tale to Dr. Torres and she sat massaging her aching head. Hotch had strangely enough found it easier to talk to Callie than it had been to talk to Garcia. He kept the thought in his mind that this was like a case, and therefore the facts were simple facts and that made them less embarrassing, or so it seemed.

"Well", Callie puffed, adjusting to the burden of the information she had just received, "That was far more then I ever needed to know about miss Garcia."

"I'm sorry", Hotch apologized, "but we need to know everyone's story, and well, that was mine."

"So you don't remember anything after... when?", Callie asked, not really wanting an answer.

"It's not clear as to exactly when my memory cuts out", Hotch continued from where he had left off, "It gets hazier and hazier and then there's blackness. Like an inky cloud. You know.. I think- I think I may have suppressed the memories for some reason. Perhaps after Morgan or Reid's interview, they could perform a cognitive interview on me, to see if we can glean anymore."

"Sounds like a plan", Callie agreed, wishing to change the subject as soon as possible. "Who's next on your list?"

"Agent Jareau, She's our-"

"Communications liaison", Callie said, finishing Hotch's sentence, "Miss Garcia told me the first time we met."

"You have a good memory", Hotch complemented.

Callie smirked. "Miss Garcia is hard to forget."

Hotch nodded, grinning as well. "We get that a lot." Hotch picked up the receiver for his telephone and dialled JJ's number, waiting for her to answer. "Hello, JJ? Yeah, it's Hotch. Could you come to my office for a few minutes? Penelope's doctor is here-" Hotch listened for a minute then a small smile crept across his face, "-No. The baby is fine. Dr. Torres just wants to help Penelope make sense of her memories or lack there of. Yeah, See you in a minute." and then he hung up the call.

"I thought she hadn't told anyone else about the baby", Callie mused aloud.

Hotch smiled and shook his head, sorting through the paperwork on his desk. "In Penelope's defence, she probably didn't. Everyone's constantly profiling everyone else. There isn't an off switch. We try not to."

"Wow, That must be so hard", Callie sympathized, thinking how she wouldn't want everyone at the hospital being able to guess her secrets by just looking at her and studying her behaviour at every turn.

"Very", Hotch nodded wryly.

They were interrupted by a knock on the door. "You wanted to see me, sir?", JJ asked, peeking her head into the room.

"Yes, Come in", Hotch confirmed, gesturing for JJ to take the only other spare seat in front of his desk. "JJ, this is doctor Torres", said Hotch, initiating the introductions. "She's Garcia's doctor. Dr. Torres, this is Jennifer Jareau, our communications liaison."

"It's so nice to meet you", JJ said, smiling and warmly shaking Callie's hand.

"It's nice to meet you too", Callie nodded, returning JJ's handshake and smile. Callie was now jealous of Penelope; all of the people in her office were way too gorgeous. "Miss Garcia told me a little about you."

"Nothing bad I hope", JJ joked playfully.

"No, Not at all", Callie assured her.

"JJ, We need your help", Hotch cut in, eager to get these meetings over with, but not wishing to be rude all the same.

"Sure, boss", JJ said, turning towards Hotch and giving him her full attention. "What do you need?"

"What do you remember from the week we were in Vegas?", Hotch asked, slightly apprehensive.

"So, it definitely was the week in Vegas when the baby was conceived?", JJ asked, turning from Hotch to Callie, to gauge both of their reactions.

"We are running on that assumption, Yes", Hotch answered.

"Then I'll probably be the most help", JJ said, nodding.

Hotch gave her a questioning stare.

"I didn't drink half as much as you all did", JJ said by way of an answer. "I was too worried about Henry. He had an ear infection. Will said he could handle it, but-"

"Mothers still worry", Hotch nodded in understanding, finishing JJ's sentence.

"Exactly", JJ smiled ruefully. "I spent most of the trip calling home to check up on them."

"Please, tell us everything you know", Hotch encouraged.

"Well", JJ began, thinking carefully, "I remember the first night we arrived. Everyone was so excited to have a whole week off. Reid, Morgan, and Garcia were laughing, joking, and flirting respectively, you and Rossi were making sure we got the right rooms and that all the expenses were taken care of with the hostess at the hotel counter, and Em and I were trying to locate some straws to see who would have to bunk with Reid." JJ laughed at the memory. "Garcia was soooo upset when she picked the short straw! Anyway, they laughed it off, and she designated Reid as her 'wing man'. Derek pretended like he was jealous, and Garcia assured him that 'no one could ever take the place of her sweet love hunk', then she linked arms with both of them and headed for the bar."

Hotch grinned. Typical Garcia..

"The rest of us followed, and the first night ended smoothly for us. Everyone turned in early because we were supposed to be going on a tour to find 'the perfect casino' the next night. That suited me just fine because I could still sneak in one last phone call home before bed. Tuesday was the day we let Reid be our tour guide, and he took us to all the best places. Caesar's was my favourite. They had a guy in the fountain painted in gold and Garcia was hysterical, sneaking pictures of him with her phone. Reid counting cards at the black jack table was pretty sick too. He kept freaking out whenever security walked by and lost every time they came too close. Wednesday night was when the trouble started."

Hotch tensed. His profiling senses were on high alert.

"We were all feeling too brave for our own good, and decided to hit the bar at the hotel again. Well, even I drank a little too much that night. Will had called and told me Henry was feeling better, so I was in a celebratory mood. I vaguely remember challenging you to drink tequila shots- I'm sorry about that by the way-"

"Forgiven", Hotch accepted, gesturing for her to continuing.

"Thanks", JJ smiled gratefully. "-and I remember Garcia falling on the floor. That was pretty much the end of everyone's fun. Rossi and em realized what they had started and called a truce, much to the disappointment of the small crowd of on-lookers they had accumulated, and Morgan spent the better part of an hour trying to convince Reid to teach him how to count cards. He kept saying, 'I'm jush ash smart ash you, preshy boy'." JJ imitated, quirking one eyebrow, and pointing a shaky finger at an imaginary reid. " 'I can do it! Jush show meh!'"

Hotch chuckled in spite of the seriousness of the situation. "I'm sorry I missed that."

"Yeah", JJ nodded, "It was seriously funny, but it did get annoying after awhile and Rossi and Em started getting 'the downs' and talking about unsolved murder cases on my left, so I headed for my room not long after. I woke up with one heck of a headache the next afternoon."

"Afternoon?", Callie asked, eyes slightly impressed.

"Yeah", JJ confirmed, winching at the memory, "and I was the first to wake up. I went around to the rooms to see if anyone needed anything. Rossi was the most polite out of everyone. He asked if I could locate some orange juice and coffee. I agreed enthusiastically and went to go track them down-"

"Wait, Did you check in on Garcia?", Hotch asked in curiosity.

"Yeah", JJ replied, "Her door wasn't closed all the way, so I peeked my head in for a few seconds." JJ's face scrunched up in sympathy. "I'm sorry to say, she looked awful. Like, really bad."

"How do you mean?", Callie asked, concern twisting her heart.

"Tear-stained and all tangled up in the linen", JJ described, her frown deepening. "She was still wearing the outfit she'd had on the night before-"

Hotch's attention peaked at that. "She still had her outfit on?"

JJ thought carefully before answering, "Yeah, She did. Even her jean jacket. Why?"

"That's not consistent with-", Callie began.

"With her nightmare, I know", Hotch sighed in relief, "Which means, if it actually did occur, it's unlikely to have happened from Monday to Thursday morning, narrowing it down to a three to two and a half day window."

"Wait, What are you talking about?", JJ asked, confused, turning from Callie to Hotch. "What happened?"

Hotch exchanged a look with Callie before answering, "Garcia believes she may have been assaulted."

"No", JJ gasped, tears welling in her eyes almost instantly. "How?- Why?-"

"We don't know", Callie answered sorrowfully, reaching out and squeezing JJ's hand to give her comfort. "That's why we're interviewing everyone. Do you remember anyone suspicious hanging around your group or miss Garcia? We have reason to believe someone may have drugged her."

"Oh god", JJ croaked, shaking her head in wide-eyed disbelief, "I don't know. I was so focused on everything else.. Garcia's always so careful. She's always the one telling me and Em to watch our drinks more carefully. It doesn't make sense that- someone could have- it's just too horrible- we're profilers, we would have noticed, right?" JJ looked to her boss for reassurance.

Hotch was doubtful. The sheer amount of alcohol they had consumed allowed for an excess of human error. But there was no way on earth he was going to tell JJ that. "You're right. It doesn't make sense.. Would you be willing to do a cognitive interview?"

"Yes, of course", JJ agreed, drying her eyes, and trying to re-focus.

"Good", Hotch nodded, preparing himself for the walk through. "Close your eyes and concentrate..

JJ complied.

"Think of that Thursday.. Think of Garcia..", Hotch guided, "Where was she? What was she doing? Who was she with?"

"She- She was in her room", JJ muttered, frowning again. "She wouldn't come out of her room. When I went to bring her some coffee and orange juice that morning, her door was shut and locked properly and she wouldn't answer when I knocked. I called out to her, but there was no answer."

"What did you do?", Hotch asked, leaning his elbows on his desk. "What did you do when she didn't answer?"

"I went to the next room. I figured I'd try back later."

"Did you?"

"Yes. Em and I went to check on her together."

"What did you find?"

"Her door was open."

"Was she in the room?"

"Yes.. and Morgan was there", JJ opened her eyes, and stared at Hotch. "She was upset. She was crying.. crying into his shoulder. We asked if she was okay, but he said he could handle it, and they'd be down in a minute... I didn't see her after that. I didn't see her until.. Saturday."

"What happened Saturday?"

"She was.. talking to Reid. It looked like they were arguing about something. It looked like she was trying to convince of something, and he wanted no part in it. She left him alone after a few minutes. She walked towards me. She looked really upset. I asked her what was wrong, but she just.. brushed past me. Then I went to talk to you guys about leaving early Sunday instead of taking the late flight. We all kept to ourselves after that for the most part."

"And you didn't see Garcia at all until Saturday?", Hotch asked, making sure they had all of JJ's story.

"Yes", JJ said, nodding. But then a sudden thought occurred to her. "but I did hear her! Friday night. Her and Morgan had a huge fight in the room next to mine. Those walls were pretty thick too, and I could still hear them. I couldn't make out what they were yelling, but it was definitely something way angry. It lasted a couple of hours and then I heard a door slam and someone stomp down the hallway. I thought about knocking on her door, but decided against it. I wish I had now.. I was just.. afraid to get involved.."

"You only did what you thought was right", Hotch assured her. "all you told us has actually been very helpful."

"I wish I could remember more", JJ lamented.

"If you do remember anything else, I'm sure you'll tell us", Callie smiled, squeezing JJ's hand again.

"Yeah, for sure", JJ started, suddenly realizing her interview was over. "It was nice, meeting you, Dr. Torres, despite the circumstances", JJ said, shaking her hand by way of farewell.

"You too", Callie nodded, returning her handshake.

"Boss", JJ nodded her good-bye to Hotch, then she left the room quickly. She needed to find Emily and recruit her for some serious girl talk with Garcia.

"So, it seems we need to speak with Derek Morgan", Callie stated after JJ had exited the room.

Hotch shook his head in disbelief. "If Morgan knew something, which by what JJ told us, leads me to believe he does, why wouldn't he tell anyone about it?"

"Maybe Garcia asked him not to?", Callie suggested.

Hotch nodded, a thought growing in the back of his mind, "I think I'm beginning to understand the pieces. Now just to solve the puzzle.. That's the key.."


	17. Chapter 17: freak out!

[a/n: i'm so sorry for how late and short this chappy is. there are many reasons i have not posted for a while, but i shall not bore you with them, and instead get back to churning out more goodness. i love you all so much, you saints with boundless patience you! keep rockin' it hard core in the lands of make-believe and dream dancing! peace. nellia~*]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely bring dreams an outlet sometimes..

Derek was still pacing his office when JJ located him.

"Morgan?", she asked, knocking on his door which he had left slightly ajar.

Derek's head snapped in her direction, an anxious expression creasing his face.

"Hotch wants to speak with you", she said, feeling slightly guilty for reasons she couldn't describe properly.

Derek sighed, hanging his head. This was it. It was the end, again. "Thanks JJ.."

"Sure", JJ nodded, then turned around and left Derek's office.

Derek prepared himself. This was not going to be fun in any sense of the word. The story he had to tell was the worst one of his life and it tortured every fibre of his soul. He strode purposefully toward the bullpen and ascended the stairs to Hotch's office. It felt like he was walking towards an execution. He tried to push his insecurities aside, tried to act like everything would be alright, but in his heart he knew that just wasn't true. He sighed and threw one last prayer god's way before turning the handle of Hotch's door.

"You wanted to see me?", Derek asked, the mask of indifference sliding on with slight difficulty.

"Morgan", Hotch greeted with a nod, "Please have a seat."

Derek took the offered chair without comment and waited with steepled fingers for Hotch to continue. He reasoned that he should find out what Hotch knew and/or guessed about the situation first before he dug any unnecessary graves. He would tread lightly here.

"Morgan, I have some information to share with you that might prove a little... shocking, to say the least", Hotch said, trying to deliver the news in a soothing tone.

"What's wrong with Garcia?", Derek asked, wanting to cut straight to the chase. He already knew that it must be serious, given that her doctor had come to visit the FBI in person and had convinced Hotch to interview everyone on their team.

"It's nothing like cancer. I can see it in your face", Hotch answered to Derek's questioning glance, "It's nothing like that. It's... well.."

"Miss Garcia is having a baby", Callie finished for the team leader, who seemed to be tongue tied all of a sudden.

"She what?", Derek asked, fear and confusion quickly shattering his indifferent mask, turning his head from Penelope's doctor to his boss and back again in a series of double takes.

"Yes, Exactly", Hotch nodded, finally realizing the merit of having Callie there.

"No", Derek said, still turning his head, scanning each face in turn for a sign that what they had just told him was a lie, and getting ever increasingly terrified when all he saw was the truth. "Oh, hell no. Hotch! No!, Just no!" Derek stood, and began pacing the room.

"Derek, calm down", Hotch tried to placate his anxious agent, but it seemed Derek was just getting started.

"Calm down?", Derek roared. "How in the fuck am I supposed to calm down, Hotch? The baby is obviously not Kevin's! Otherwise I wouldn't be in here! What a mess! What a friggin' dirty mess-!"

"Are you suggesting that the child might be yours?", Hotch asked, surprise evident in his voice.

"Well it sure as hell ain't Reid's or Rossi's!", Derek bellowed, gripping his head in frustration and pacing the room. "God!.. I should have!-.." Derek shook his head, silently cursing his luck. "It doesn't matter now. It's done. She must be keeping it. Garcia's not.. well, she just wouldn't do that. She'd think about it. But she wouldn't. I know that.. I know her.."

"So.. You're sure the baby couldn't be anyone elses?", Hotch asked, his version of events playing back in his mind and only providing more confusion.

"Yeah, well, maybe..", Derek faltered, remembering Garcia crying into his shoulder, "or... you."

"Yes, I remember that night slightly, but..", Hotch shrugged, "I was pretty trashed.."

"Yeah, I'm kinda sorry for punching you, by the way", Derek apologized, plunking back into the seat across from his team leader's desk.

Hotch shook his head. "It's okay. I partially deserved it. It's my fault we were in vegas, and it's my fault for neglecting my responsibilities to this team. I should have been more careful."

"It had been a rough week", Derek dismissed. "We all deserved to forget for a little while."

"Garcia though..", Hotch sighed, unwilling to ever forgive himself.

"She's a grown ass girl", Derek defended, trying to prop his boss back up, "She'll handle it. And she's got all of us to help her. No matter.. well, anything."

Hotch cracked a small smile at his subordinate. Derek was loyal to a fault. "Do you remember much of what happened?"

Derek closed his eyes and let out a cold, tired, defeated breath. "Yep", he answered, eyes still closed.

"Sorry?", Hotch thought he detected something odd in Derek's voice. What was it?

"Alcohol.. it doesn't effect me like most people", Derek explained, opening his eyes, "Sure, it still makes me do stupid things that I might regret later, but it doesn't mess with my memory. It's always been that way. Which really sucks, because then I have all this guilt and it tears me apart sometimes."

"So you remember.. everything?", Hotch asked, slightly astonished.

"So long as it happened to me, yeah", Derek answered truthfully.

"Would you be willing to recount some of it for us?", Callie asked, "We don't mean to pry, but it would really help miss Garcia. She really needs answers."

"Sure", Derek sighed unhappily, "but I'm gonna warn you now, you might not want to tell her any of it when I'm through."

[a/n: next part is derek's memories. really excited about it. will post soon, promise. peace off love'as!]


	18. Chapter 18: derek's memories

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... snazzy tagline

Derek strode down the halls past the other team's rooms with and aching smile plastered on his face. He was a little hung over, but he decided walking it off with his best friend baby girl on his arm would be a quick cure. He stopped a few feet from her room when he noticed something that instantly put him on high alert; the door to Penelope's room was slightly ajar. He knew Penelope would never leave her door open and unlocked in a strange place on purpose, she was too smart for that. Cursing under his breath for currently not carrying a weapon of some sort, Derek cautiously pushed Garcia's door open with the tips of his fingers. Derek's eyes scanned the perimeter of the room like a hawk. Only when he was sure that there were no potential unsubs hiding in the shadows did he dare enter the room. Derek's attention immediately switched to the princess herself, and what he beheld made his heart twist with guilt. There she lay, looking horribly pathetic, twisted every which way in the sheets of her hotel bed, make up smeared all down her cheeks and on the hotel's pillows, hair now a tangled mess, and high heeled shoes still in place. The only thing missing were her glasses, which Derek located on the near bedside table.

"Oh, baby girl, honeycakes, what happened to you?", Derek wondered aloud, shaking his head sadly, and moving to sit at her back, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Sweetpea?", he called out to her softly, "Time to wake up and face the music, buttercups.." he shook her shoulder gingerly and she began to stir sluggishly. "There you go, momma. Open your eyes for Morgan.." he smiled fondly at her. Even in this state, he still thought she looked beautiful. He loved every inch of his baby girl and this was no exception.

"Morr..gahn?", Penelope managed to croak, watery eyes open barely a centimeter.

"That's right, sweetheart, it's Morgan. Can you sit up for me?", he coaxed.

Penelope tried, but couldn't manage the act on her own. She flopped back uselessly and slowly shook her head.

"Come on, Garcia. You know you'll feel better once you get up."

"Li..ar", she coughed smiling, but it hurt too much so she stopped. "Wha happen' to me?", she asked groggily, "I feel like som'un kihh-cked me harrd in tha ass.."

"You were a little tipsy last night and you fell, sweetness", Derek explained as kindly as he could.

"Reid is nevr being my whing man agan", Garcia swore.

"To be fair to Reid, I'm not sure he fully understood his responsibilities in the matter", Derek chuckled, remembering just how drunk Reid had been before Penelope had fallen to the floor. "No more stallin' now. Haul your sore ass outta that bed, and let's get you cleaned up."

Penelope held out her arms in front of her body expectantly, still lying on her back.

"Alright, sour puss, I'll help", Derek relented, grasping her wrists and beginning to tug her upright, "but you gotta meet me half way here."

"My hero", Penelope cooed happily, struggling to correct her posture. As soon as she was partially vertical, she realized getting up had been a terrible idea. "Derr, I don't feel so..", she felt the bile rising in her throat and shut her mouth quickly.

An expression of alarm passed over Derek's face. "Hang on, Penelope! I'll be right back! Don't move!" Derek dashed to one of the armchairs in the room and located a small waste paper basket beside it. He barely returned in time.

"Blahr! Yuck! I'm sorry, D", Penelope apologized profusely, spitting the last remnants of sick from her mouth into the waste basket.

Derek winched slightly in disgust, but offered brave words for Penelope's sake. "That's okay. I wasn't really in the mood for lunch anyway."

"Gee thanks", Penelope cracked sarcastically, still able to smell slash taste her own vomit. "Ugh, I need toothpaste, or gum, or... lysol."

Derek laughed. "Did you put your toothpaste in the washroom?"

"Yeah, hang on a sec while I grab some", Penelope offered, trying with great difficulty to stand.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, sweetcheeks", Derek persuaded, guiding her back to her seated position. "How 'bout I grab it and you stay put?"

"Derek Morgan, you are a saint", Penelope gushed.

"Damn right", Derek winked, heading to the room's washroom and opening the door. The next minute he let out a surprised yelp and crashed backward into the washroom door. "Fuck, Reid! What the holy high heaven are you doing in this god damn bathtub?"

"The bed was taken?", Reid rasped pathetically, knees over the rim of said tub. The poor gangly bastard could barely fit in the small hotel tub and it looked as though he'd had a rough time trying to get some sleep. "I, ah, I was too, um, inebriated to-to fix a proper bedroll for myself, so I, ah, I just crashed here." he shrugged and gave Derek a halfhearted goofy grin.

"Damn, kid. You scared the shit outta me, you know that?", Derek cursed, shaking his head at the once boy wonder.

"Sorry", Reid apologized awkwardly, tucking a few wayward strands of hair behind his ears and attempting to weakly scramble out of the tub.

"Just don't do it again", Derek warned jokingly, turning to locate Penelope's toothpaste. That's when he noticed the gun on the counter. "What in the name of..?", Derek wondered aloud, lifting the weapon for further analysis.

When Reid spied what had caught Morgan's attention, his expression changed from confused to recognition, to slightly nervous in quick succession. Luckily, Derek had been too busy inspecting the firearm to notice.

"This is Hotch's gun", Derek stated with a hint of surprise in his tone.

"Is it?", Reid asked, sounding slightly anxious for as yet unknown reasons.

"What's Hotch's gun doing here?", Derek asked Reid, suspecting the young agent knew the answer.

"He helped Garcia up here after she fell, remember?", Reid supplied, still trying to hide his nervous ticks from Derek's keen profilers eyes. "He must have left it by accident."

"Reid, we've worked with this man for seven long years now. He's more predictable then a military clock. He carries his gun everywhere. He's always on alert, even on vacation, so you tell me.. what would make a man like that leave his gun behind?"

"He has two", Reid attempted to remind Morgan by way of an explanation. He really didn't want to be in the middle of whatever this was going to become.

"So what?", Derek countered. "He always has two. He's never left his gun before. I know you know something, pretty boy, now give it up."

Reid hesitated. His anxiety increased exponentially. "I.. um.. I'd really rather.."

"-Spit it out", Derek encouraged.

"-rather not say, I..", Reid stuttered.

"Reid. Now, please", Derek demanded.

"I don't want to be in the middle of this", Reid sputtered, holding his hands up in a defensive position. He felt like he had entered a hostage negotiation scenario.

"In the middle of what?", Derek asked, his expression darkening.

"Please", Reid begged, "Please, just-just ask Garcia-"

"I'm askin you. Answer me", Derek barked, beginning to become frustrated with this run-around.

"Um", Reid swallowed, suddenly deciding that caving under pressure was a good thing, "Now, it was pitch black when I came in here and I was completely wasted, so don't rely on me here, but I thought I saw.." Reid trailed off, losing his nerve. Derek was most likely going to be furious and a furious Derek Morgan was never a pretty thing.

"Reid", Derek warned, taking a step towards the squirming genius.

"I think I saw Garcia making out with Hotch ,Please don't kill me!", Reid squeaked in rapid succession, throwing his arms over his head protectively.

"What?", Derek felt like his brain had exploded inside of his skull.

Penelope, who had heard the commotion in the washroom, and had managed to leaver herself upright and wobble over to investigate, stopped short in the doorway, gripping the frame for support and echoed Derek's statement in a hollow, broken voice. "What?", she asked, tears welling in her already watery eyes.

"Garcia, I'm sorry", Reid tried desperately to apologize. "He made me tell him-"

"But it's not true", Penelope argued, shaking her head in denial, "I don't remember- I would never-"

"He has an eidetic memory, P", Derek said, pointing out the cold, cruel truth. "His brain's a machine. It doesn't make mistakes."

"Oh god.." Penelope's knees grew weak to the point that she could no longer stand, and she slid slowly to the floor where she sat trembling, tears flowing from unfocused eyes, because she had realized that Derek was right. And, she had begun to remember.

[a/n: sorry about that. i didn't realize part of that extremely important sentence was missing! now that it's fixed, it should make a little more sense. and, there is a derek's memories part two coming up :) cheers.]


	19. Chapter 19: derek on the B side

[a/n: sorry again for the long spaces between updates! i had real trouble figuring out what to keep in this chapter and what to leave until later chapters, and i only figured out the final structure this afternoon. failing... anyway, the first part is the continued portion of derek's memories, then back to the interview in the middle bit, then a short bit of memories at the end for a slight tease, and then the end of derek's interview. might not put in emily's interview and just skip straight to reid's which will be the most important one of them all, and leave out rossi because he already told hotch everything he knew. that all depends on you lot. review. tell me what you think. that helps ever so muchly. love. peace.]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i merely play with fire sometimes..

Derek grilled Reid for a few more minutes until he had spilled all of his relevant information, and then had mercifully let the shaky agent leave. Reid had witnessed, well more like 'heard', the rest of Penelope and Hotch's 'encounter', which hadn't lasted very long after Reid's unexpected arrival onto the scene, and then he had fallen into an alcohol induced 'coma' of sorts.

Penelope sat just a few feet away, only half listening as a slow, freezing dread spread throughout her body with every dull beat of her heart. She could see Derek out of the corner of her clouded eyes, mulling over the situation and deciding what to do about it. She could only speculate on his actions at this point, but based on past experience, it wasn't likely to be anything pleasant. She noticed movement a few moments later and coward away from his outstretched hands as he stooped down beside her.

Derek's arms extended his reach and he snagged Penelope's head and forced her to face him.

She squeezed her eyes shut tight, unwilling to look into his no doubt rage filled glare, and waited for the lightening... But nothing came.

No lightening.

No thunder.

Not a rumble.

Nothing.

When she finally dared to open her eyes again, all she saw were two things; unshakable love and unyielding sympathy. He didn't need to say anything. Everything in the way he was looking at her said it all. She let out a small squeak of a sob, hesitating a fraction on a second longer, before throwing her arms around his neck and shoulders and letting the breakwater holding back her emotions crumble into a sea of bitterly wept tears.

Derek held her close to his chest and rocked her gently in his arms. He could feel her pain like a thousand knives in his heart, and when he breathed, he imagined he could feel them sliding and slicing with each steady breath. But he held it together for her. She needed him to be strong right now. His own grief would have to be dealt with later. He scooped her off of the bathroom floor and deposited her back on the edge of her hotel bed and just let her sob out all of her pain and guilt. You wouldn't guess it unless you knew her real well, but his baby girl had a specific moral compass that she would never deviate from. Normally she kept herself in constant check; breaking off flirtations when she sensed they were crossing out of strictly friendly territory, making sure the guys around her were aware she had a boyfriend and an over-protective team/family that would kick their ass six ways past Sunday if they ever tried anything too frisky, and even when she had gone out with the team after work for drinks in the past, she'd always been careful what she said and did. Now her compass was broken and she was feeling completely lost.

J.J. Showed up inconveniently with Emily in toe and fussed over the state Garcia was in for a few minutes before Derek was able to convince them he had the situation covered. The truth was he wasn't sure. He didn't really know how to deal with this situation. I mean, she'd made out with Hotch. Hotch. Aaron effing Hotchner. He could see from the state she was in and the emotions slamming into her right now that she obviously regretted her actions, but to what degree and extent was currently a mystery, and quite frankly, it was a mystery he wasn't too sure he wanted to solve. But.. he had to. She needed someone to help sort her through her feelings and Derek was her best friend... man, sometimes being the best friend really, really, sucked.

"Penelope..", he urged softly, tilting her tear stained face towards his. "Come on, baby girl. Talk to me.."

Penelope shook her head ever so pathetically and fragile. She felt so sad at the moment she thought she might just burst like a water balloon a small child had filled too full. She'd slept with her friend; her college; her boss! Not only that, she'd cheated on Kevin! On her boyfriend. Everything she knew about loyalty was now lying in the creases of some grimy hotel sheets, and she felt so reviled and angry with herself. "I'm gunna be sick 'gan", she managed to mutter, hopeless tears leaking out the corners of her eyes.

Derek let go of her quivering chin and allowed her to turn her head away from him and toward the waste paper basket.

Penelope vomited as if somehow she might be able to expel all of the sins from her body. How desperately she longed for that to be true.

Derek keep her long hair out of her face and away from the bile with one hand and then began rubbing her back in small, comforting circles with his other. She was a mess way past a patch job, and all he could do was stay with her while she rode it out. He felt so helpless. Derek hated being helpless.

"Baby.. Do you remember.. I mean, besides the kissing and stuff..", Derek struggled with the words that made up the questions he knew he had to ask, but shuttered to hear the answers of. "..Did you.. Did you, Um.. Was there.. How far did it actually, you know, 'go' before Reid interrupted?.."

Penelope's face went slack in mortification and her eyes grew wider and wider as her fears were materializing before her mind's eye. "I-", she tried, but the words stuck in her throat like tough molasses.

"Go on, baby girl", Derek encouraged, even though it took every skill he had in the fibbing department to win her over at the moment. "I'm not here to get mad and freak out. I'm here to help. Tell Morgan what happened, sweetness."

"I-", Penelope began again, finding it difficult to breathe, "-I remember a -a little.." then she shook her head vehemently. She didn't want Derek to hear this. She didn't want anyone to hear the description of the events flashing through her mind, but especially not Derek, and it only made her heart hurt more to think up reasons why. "I can't talk about it. I can't. It's just- It's just- so- too terrible.."

"P..,", Derek tried to warn her that keeping it all inside was an extremely bad idea, but she stopped him short with a gentle hand on his muscle bound chest.

"No, Derek", she shook her head sadly. "No. I need space right now. Time to think. Just-" she tried to come up with a solution that would allow him to leave her in peace, "-Come back later, okay?" she really didn't think she'd want to talk later either, but it would get him out of her room for now.

Derek gave her a calculating stare, something that she could feel right down in her soul and it made her shiver internally. "I will be back, P", he promised sternly.

"I know", Penelope conceded in a small defeated tone of voice.

Derek left her reluctantly and headed to the nearest bar for a stiff drink.

"And?", Hotch asked, breaking into Derek's recitation of events.

"And I drank", Derek answered, stating the obvious. "I was in Las Vegas, and there was a steady supply, so I drank."

"And that's it?", Hotch asked, suspecting that there was more to the story then Derek was willing to share. "You didn't check on Garcia like you had promised? You didn't return to make sure your best friend was okay? You weren't the least bit concerned with the condition she was in when you left her?"

"Of course I was concerned!", Derek snapped angrily. This line of questioning was beginning to sound accusatory and Derek was starting to get the picture more clearly. "I was concerned she was feeling ill after our night of drinking! I was concerned with her state of mind! I was concerned with the effects and consequences that still awaited her attention! And, I was concerned that if I didn't keep my ass glued to that bar stool that I might go off and do something stupid!"

"Like try and find me so you could beat me to a bloody pulp?", Hotch asked shrewdly, pretending to organize a stack of papers on his desk.

"I'm sorry, sir, but yes", Derek agreed, "Most definitely."

"So, what I'm wondering now is why it took you until Friday evening to locate me and hand me my ass on a plate?", Hotch asked in a serious tone.

"Something... happened", Derek hesitated. Was Hotch really going to make him recount his every action?

The team leader analyzed his agent briefly, before returning to his charade of organizing his desk. "I see.. You don't have to explain, Morgan. It was a vacation from hell for all of us. It was a bad combination of sour luck and situations controlled by alcohol.."

"And drugs..", Derek mumbled, thinking aloud, and realizing so too late.

"Excuse me?", Hotch asked, alarm bells sounding in the back of his mind.

Derek winched and cursed inwardly. "Hotch, It's not- It sounds really bad, I know but listen-"

"It better be good, Morgan", Hotch warned, temperature rising. If his agents were taking hallucinogenics, that came back on him and he would not tolerate such behaviour in his unit. Ever... Well, there was Reid, but he was clean now, and there had been extenuating circumstances...

"It was Garcia, sir", Derek explained. "If I had only gotten there sooner- I have no idea where she got them from. She told me they were supplements and sleeping pills, but I figured out she had been lying and forced her to cough them up." Derek's sad frown deepened at the horrible memory. "She- I never even considered-"

"Wait", Callie interrupted, suddenly realizing what Derek was alluding to, "Do you mean... she tried to.. kill herself?" Callie was horrified. She'd only known Penelope for a short while now, but she'd never imagined in her darkest dreams that Penelope Garcia would have ever been suicidal.

Derek shook his head. "I don't think so", he answered to Hotch and Callie's great relief. "I think she just wanted to forget." Derek's expression changed to one of confusion. "Where the eff she got roofie pills is anyone's guess.."

"Holy crap!", Callie gasped exchanging an astonished glance with Hotch. "She roofied herself? But- We?- She?- How does that make any sense?"

Derek shrugged. This interview was making his head hurt with renewed burning questions. "You guys are as lost as I am. Just when you think you know her.. Anyway, I took the damn things away from her and went to go find some water to help sober her up, but when I got back-" Derek stopped abruptly. He was getting to the part he wished he could leave buried. It should have never seen the light of day.

"Morgan?", Hotch prompted uncertainly, but Derek's memories were overpowering his mind at the moment..

"Baby girl?", Derek asked, peeking his head into her room and noticing that she was staring at the ceiling with a unnatural grin on her face. Derek cursed inwardly. She must have hidden some of the drugs under her tongue when he'd come to check on her previously, and they'd absorbed directly into her blood stream while they'd chatted. "Penelope.. are you okay?" his words were slightly slurring, but he tried to speak carefully so as not to show her any weakness.

"Fine now, sugar", she grinned serenely, flopping upwards to a seated position in the middle of the hotel bed.

Derek carefully carried the water bottles he had found to the left side of the bed and placed them all on the bedside table. He held one out for Garcia to take, but she shook her head.

"Not unless you sit next to me", she stipulated, beaming playfully up at him.

Since Derek wasn't in the best shape to argue, and she refused to drink the water she needed unless he sat beside her, Derek kicked off his shoes and plopped down as rigidly as his previous gallon of alcohol consumption would allow.

"See?", she giggled, leaning heavily on his right shoulder, "Isn't that better?"

"Not really", Derek answered rather crabbily.

Penelope's face fell and she picked at the label on her water bottle. "You mad at me, D?"

"A little", he answered, alcohol making him more insensitively honest then he would normally have been when speaking with her. "Drink your water."

"Are you mad cuz I prolly slept with Hotch or are you mad cuz I took the pills?", Penelope asked, the drugs making her rather more forward then she normally would have been when speaking with him.

"Mostly the pills", Derek answered, feeling really guilty for not checking on her sooner. "That was really stupid, P."

"More stupid then sleepin' with the boss?", she joked half-heartedly.

"Yes, even more stupid then that", Derek agreed.

"It was supposed to be you, you know..", she mumbled, barely audible.

That caught Derek off guard! "What?", he asked, his heart rate increasing in pace slightly.

Penelope looked up at Derek with a sad little smile and glassy eyes, "It should have been you.. You should have rescued me from the floor.. You should have helped me to my room.. It should have been you.."

"Morgan?", Hotch repeated, trying to regain the agent's attention. "Morgan, are you okay?"

Derek snapped back to reality and tried to shake the images from his mind. Penelope's face lingered though; Her sad smile.. Her glassy eyes filled with regret.. "I stayed with her until Friday evening", Derek continued, knowing what was expected of him. "That's when her and I had a fight, I went and took out my frustrations on you, we traded punches, then settled up afterwards, and then Penelope ventured down to the bar, presumably to drink herself silly again, until she saw us and the end of our argument and went postal. She ended our friendship and told me she was never, ever going to speak with me again, and stormed off, presumably back to her room. I didn't see her again until Sunday."

"And was it on Sunday or Thursday?", Hotch asked as delicately as he could, knowing Morgan would know that he meant 'was it Sunday or Thursday that you slept with her?'.

"Thursday.. and Friday", Derek added with reluctance, but he figured he might as well tell the whole truth if he was aiming to be completely honest.

"I see..", Hotch nodded, feeling a prickly feeling in his stomach like it had gone numb and fallen asleep, which was an odd and almost entirely unexplainable sensation. "Well, if there is no more information you have to impart upon us, you may go if you wish.."

Derek nodded grimly. "You'll tell me when all of this gets sorted?", he asked, apprehension tinging his voice.

Hotch nodded curtly, and Derek left the room quickly as he sensed the atmosphere was no longer friendly.

"So it's down to Saturday and Sunday now", Callie reasoned.

"No", Hotch answered.

"Excuse me?", Callie was confused.

"Agent Morgan informed us that miss Garcia had taken the roofies herself, ergo, her nightmare was most likely a confused memory, and not an attempted assault. Obviously, some of the pills must have absorbed into her blood stream before agent Morgan managed to make her spit them out. Meaning, she wasn't under the full effects the drugs would normally pose onto the human condition, but she probably still wasn't it her right state of mind at the time either, causing her to again make compromising decisions", Hotch outlined as he had concluded in his mind. "However, that being the case, there must be a secondary source allowing for her complete memory loss. Finding out what that secondary source is will be our next task."

Callie stared at the BAU team leader. Boy, these people were some smart cookies...

[a/n: yes, callie is a smart cookie too, she's just a doctor cookie and not a profiler cookie. also, the line 'a mess way past a patch job' is something my mom said to me the other day. i was working the late shift and had stayed up even later to work on some fanfiction and i looked like death, so as soon as she saw me she said, "well.. you look like a mess way past a patch job!, what have you been doing with yourself, kid?" and i said work and writing and then she said, "ah, so let me guess, it's only gonna get worse cuz it's your day off, so you'll spend all your visit home ignoring me and typing away?"  
>then i smiled and said "yep!" and then she said, "can i read your odyssey when you've finished?" and we laughed. she's great fun. she gives me a lot of great lines. remember to review if you want to be heard! cheers!]<p> 


	20. Chapter 20: the final piece

[a/n: and so we have the final interview. the one that turns out to be the most important. i hope you enjoy this and i look forward to explaining everything in the next one to three chapters. i love your saintly patience. peace~*]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN... i merely attempt to entertain and shock the minds of crimi-fans sometimes..

"...It's called 'we got death star'?", Reid asked into the receiving end of his cellphone. "Seriously?"

Just as his delightfully humorous phone call was reaching it's zenith, an annoying beeping sound began permeating through the background of the conversation. "ah, guys, hang on a second", Reid spoke rather quickly, placing his star wars enthused friends on hold, "Yello?", he asked this new caller quite cheerfully.

"Reid?", asked a rather bemused Aaron Hotchner sounding voice on the other end of the line. "This is Hotch.."

"Hotch!", Reid squawked in surprise, forgetting all former thoughts of merriment, "What're?- I'm- I'm sorry, sir, I was just on the phone with- Doesn't matter, How are, Um, How are you?"

"Reid, I need to see you in my office", Hotch stated, not fully comprehending how menacing that sounded at the moment.

"Ah... Sure", Reid hesitated, then added in rapid succession, "No! Yes, of course! Yes! I'll be there in a minute! Just gotta- Yes, lemmi just- Never mind, they'll understand-"

"Reid?", Hotch's voice asked again, slightly worried about how flustered Reid seemed to be at the moment.

"Yes, sir?", Reid asked, slightly out of breath with unnecessary panic.

"Calm down, tell your friends you'll call them back, then please come up to my office for a small interview", Hotch ordered. "It's nothing serious, just a couple of questions, then you can go."

"Oh..", sometimes the natural 'you're in trouble' tone of Hotch's voice unnerved him, and he freaked out a little. "I'll be right there." Reid wasted no more time and ended the call with his boss. He then pressed the hold button on his phone again. "Hey, guys? Yeah, I'm gonna hafta call you back.." and then he hung up before they could reply. It didn't matter what Hotch wanted to talk about; When the boss calls, you answer, and quickly.

Reid stood from his tiny desk that was too small for his lanky build and adjusted his apparel slightly as it had shifted out of place while he had been having his star wars conversation. Questions began to whirl through his busy mind, constantly in motion... What did Hotch want? Was it something to do with taking frivolous phone calls on bureau hours? He dismissed this thought; Hotch had said he could call his friends back later. Of course, when he did call them back, perhaps Hotch was going to order him to inform his friends that they were breaking office protocol and were to only call him on his days off... Reid hadn't even begun to speculate properly yet, when he realized he was standing directly outside of the BAU team leader's door. Reid would have been annoyed at this, but it happened so often that he had come to except a long time ago that his mind would be forever more entangled then his body, and therefore he would always arrive into a situation unprepared if he tried to think on the fly. Give him an hour and he was a genius, give him five minutes and he had to make do as he went along. Reid opened the door with a sigh and stepped inside. The presence of an unfamiliar women in the room did little to calm Reid's nerves. If anything, his insecurities increased about three fold.

Hotch looked up as the BAU's youngest agent entered his office. He noticed Reid's discomfort, and offered introductions as a peace offering. "SA Dr. Reid, this is Dr. Torres. She is miss Garcia's doctor."

Reid's brain immediately ran through a plethora of various scenarios involving Garcia, and her doctor, and why her doctor would visit her in the work place, and as each reached it's rapid conclusion, his concern for their lovable tech increased exponentially. He presently was attempting to mask these fleeting fancies however, and reached out to shake Dr. Torres' hand. "Nice to meet you", Reid grinned sheepishly at the other doctor.

"Likewise", Callie nodded, accepting the handshake, and sizing up this Dr. Reid. Garcia had mentioned he was young, but she thought that that had been hyperbole. Now she realized that the women had actually been literal; He did look young. Really, really, young. But, she had to admit, he was definitely a cutie pie. With ice cream. And sprinkles. "Miss Garcia told me about you."

"I'm not sure that's a good thing", Reid joked hesitantly.

"It was actually rather vague", Dr. Torres teased, "Which isn't really like her, is it?"

Reid chuckled lightly. He had decided; Dr. Torres was to be treated as a friend. "No, definitely not", he agreed. "How is she, by the way?", Reid tried to ask as casually as he could.

"Garcia is pregnant", Hotch stated bluntly, redirecting the focus of the conversation.

"She..", Reid stopped short as the gears of his brain worked at an astounding pace. "Now her mood swings make sense", was his concluding remark.

Callie exchange an amused glance with Hotch. "That's one way to look at it", Callie smirked.

Then Reid realized his horrible mistake. "Oh no..", he breathed, eyes unfocusing and facial muscles going slack.

"Reid?", Hotch asked with concern. "You look- Are you alright?"

"I- I-", Reid stuttered, at a loss for words for one of the few instances in his life.

"Yes?", Hotch prompted, trying to get the young agent to open up again.

"Hotch, I did an awful, terrible thing..", Reid swallowed, sweat beginning to bead from his furrowed brow.

Hotch held his breath, waiting on the edge of his office chair. He prayed Reid was about to say anything other then what he thought he was going to say...

"I- I mean, it seemed- She said she wanted to forget- She was so sad. And Morgan was upset, and you were upset, and I thought it would help- I didn't think- Well, Yeah, I guess I didn't think.."

"Reid, we need to know what happened", Hotch rumbled gently. "Please."

Reid looked up at his boss with haunted eyes. "I erased her memory.."

[a/n: did you see it coming? it will be explained just how reid achieved this feat in the next chapter, which i will post soon. love 'til then!]


	21. Chapter 21: the magician's secret

[a/n: well, it happened. the thing that i was dreading the most. the thing that always happens right in the middle of when i'm writing a story... i lost my inspiration. but never fear! it is back! with a criminal intent! i will finish this story even if it kills me! :) love y'all. peace.]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN... i merely attempt to entertain and shock the minds of crimi-fans sometimes..

"How is that-? Is that even possible?", Callie asked, her brain starting to get twisted all out of whack.

"A few weeks before our trip, I confided in Garcia that I had begun to study the applications of retrieval hypnosis", Reid tried to explain. "The purpose of which was to re-order my mind so as to have the luxury of not remembering certain things unless deemed necessary providing certain scenarios were in play. You know, a sort of 'pet project'.."

Callie exchanged an 'is he serious?' look with Hotch, and Hotch simply nodded.

"If I had only known the eventual outcome of the imparting of my confidence, I would have never-", Reid shook his head remorsefully. "I'm so sorry, Hotch."

"It's alright", Hotch tried to assure his young agent. "You were just trying to help out a friend."

"She wouldn't take no for an answer", Reid stressed pointedly. "You know she never does. And she said she had some kind of pills with her and said if I didn't fix it, she would. She wasn't herself. It was entirely uncomfortable. I decided my methods were more suitable and posed less of a health risk then hers, so I suppressed her memories for her. And then I did my own."

"You hypnotized yourself?", Callie asked disbelievingly.

"There's a trick to it", Reid nodded, "It's difficult to master, but not impossible. And I've had hours of practice so.." and he shrugged, trailing off.

"But Reid, if you hypnotized yourself and suppressed your memories of the trip-?", Hotch began to ask, but Reid interrupted to correct his interpretation.

"Not the entire trip. Just the fact that I was the one who suppressed Garcia's memories. And I placed a safety in the process to release the memories should the information be needed at a later date. I always make sure there is a safety line."

"What do you mean by 'safety line'?", Callie asked.

"It's like a rope or a life line that can help you climb up out of the darkness", Reid answered. "I put in certain keys that when combined, would make the memory return. The parameters of the safety were: someone gathering information on Garcia, the information must be health related, and Hotch must be the one to ask me to reveal my secret."

"Why did you pick me?", Hotch asked, already guessing the answer partially.

"Because if you were asking about it, I knew you would have her best interests at heart.. and I wouldn't get fired for performing hypnosis on her", Reid added sheepishly at the end.

"Can you reverse her previous hypnosis?", Hotch inquired hopefully.

"I can try", Reid winced in self doubt. "but that's a whole lotta information, Hotch. She may only be able to retrieve bits and pieces. Ultimately, it all depends on wither she truly wishes to remember or not. It's hard to say."

"Whatever you can do will help a great deal", Callie insisted. "She does need answers. I'm sure she's willing."

Reid looked to his leader, and Hotch nodded the go-ahead.

"Okay", Reid sighed, stretching his arms and flexing his long, skilled fingers. "Dr. Torres, I'm going to need to borrow your patient.."

[a/n: soon garcia will find out what REALLY happened on that trip to vegas. prepare yourselves 'cause dear god..]


	22. Chapter 22: off to dreamland

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIALS HERE IN... i merely play with the truth a little sometimes..

"I'm beginning to make a habit of this..", Garcia grumbled, entering her team leaders office for what felt like the millionth time. "Not that you aren't the bestest boss-man in the whole wide world, sir", Garcia was quick to amend, "but I'd really like to go one day without being interrogated or interviewed or whatever.." Penelope was feeling frustrated and she knew it was because her hormones were yo-yo again, but she just couldn't prevent that now, could she? Penelope landed on the cushy leather chair in a huff and crossed her arms, thoroughly miffed.

Reid exchanged a worried look with Hotch, so Hotch obliged and took the lead.

"Garcia, Reid thinks he can help you retrieve your memories of Vegas."

Gone was her stone wall expression in a flash of emotion. "What?"

"I- Ah- I hypnotized you", Reid added nervously. "You asked me to and I did. That's why you can't remember anything properly. It's all been forcibly suppressed."

"You suppressed my memories?", Penelope asked in a rather heartbreaking tone, on the verge of tears.

"You asked me to!", Reid defended, unnerved by her emotional spasms.

"Why didn't you tell me?", she shrieked.

"Because telling you my have triggered a retrieval!", Reid barked uncharacteristically. "You said you didn't want to remember at any cost. And besides, I didn't even remember I had done any such thing until Hotch asked me for information pertaining to you. I'd even hypnotized myself."

"Wha-?", Penelope was confused.

"Real friends protect each other", Reid stated matter-of-factly. "I made sure your mind was safe. Even from me."

Penelope now felt rather fond, kind feelings towards Dr. Reid. "Oh... Thank you.."

"Don't mention it", Reid muttered sarcastically, and then, clearing his throat, he added, "I can try and unlock your memories now, but it may take awhile."

Penelope nodded. That sounded alright to her.

"And let me inform you, when I say 'awhile', it could mean a few hours or..", Reid hesitated, "or a day or so.."

"A day or so?", now the apprehension was setting in.

"Yes, and you would be unable to wake up until all of the memories were retrieved", Reid explained. "or you would risk losing them forever."

Penelope considered this carefully. Did she really want to know what happened? If she had been as upset as Reid said she had been on the week in question, the memories would have had to have been pretty unbearable to have had the entire trip wiped from her mind. And was she really willing to give up hours, even days of her life, just to wake up into a nightmare? In the end, the truth was too great to ignore. She had to know. Now that she was in her right mind and could make clear and conscious decisions about her future, she had to know. It was the right thing to do. Penelope took a deep breath, swallowed her fears, and nodded curtly.

"Let's do this, junior g-man."

The three BAU members and the physician moved into the common room in the head quarters because there was a couch in the room and Garcia would be able to lie down in there and not be disturbed.

When everyone was in position, Reid began to lead Penelope through the hypnosis process.

"Now, Garcia, I want you to take deep, slow breaths with me, can you do that?"

"Yes", Penelope replied nervously, trying to keep as still as possible and staring directly at the ceiling.

"We are going to breath in for seven seconds, hold the breath for seven seconds, then exhale for seven seconds, and repeat", Reid instructed gently holding her left hand. "I don't want to rush you through this. Everything will be fine. You are safe here. Are you ready to begin?"

"Yes", Penelope answered.

"Good, now inhale with me. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven.. Hold, two, three, four, five, six, seven.. Breath out- two, three, four, five, six, seven.."

As Reid continued his mantra and she followed along in her mind, she began to feel exceedingly more relaxed and rather 'floaty'.

"Penelope?", Reid enquired in undertone after a few more rounds of seven. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes..", she answered rather hazily. This calm state was rather comfortable and peaceful.

"Would you like to dream now?", Reid asked in the same soothing tone of voice.

"Yes..", she answered, a serene smile turning the corners of her mouth ever so slightly.

"Then dream", Reid instructed, "Go back in time.. Back to that trip the team took.. Back to Las Vegas.. Back to where it all began.. Back and back and back.." Reid waited a few moments and then asked, "Are you there now?"

"I can see the lights", Penelope answered in an awe-struck whisper, "I remember thinking how beautiful all the lights were.. It never sleeps.."

"Good, now sleep.. Dream of everything that happened that week. Every single thing. And wake up when you've remembered it all. Wake up when your mind is free.."

Penelope's eyes, which were nearly closed to start with, fluttered closed and she spoke no more.

When Reid was sure she was sound asleep, he ever so gently let go of her hand.

"Is that it?", Callie asked quietly.

Reid nodded. "The rest is up to her."

[a/n: next follows a few memories. they will hopefully be very.. 'informative'. you have been warned. love y'all. peace.]


	23. Chapter 23: las vegas, the city of sin

[a/n: i put spacers in marking each memory so it's easier to sort through them all. also, the first memory begins on monday as well as the second memory, then the third memory begins on the wednesday of that week. and i'm sorry it took so long to post this, but there were many, many, slurry words in it and my spell check was going beserk. oh, and if anyone has trouble reading 'drunk language', just try and sound it out, or if i get too many complaints i'll add subtitles. love y'all. peace.]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN... i simply like to dream i do sometimes...

{UPDATE- i've taken out the largest chunks of 'drunk language' as it was revealed as being too irritating to bother reading, and my intention when i wrote this story was that it could be enjoyed. i hope i have re-newed faith in this story :) just keep in mind when you read the words that all of the characters involved are severely intoxicated and their speech should in fact be muddled. love y'all. peace.}

/_the first memory_/

She was excited. She had never been to Las Vegas before, and now she was getting to go with all of her closest friends. Life couldn't be sweeter. Kevin be damned. She was determined to have fun this week. She'd giggled and chatted the whole flight with Emily and JJ about how much shopping they were going to do and how hopelessly broke they were bound to be afterwards. Well, at least she would be. JJ was responsible with her money, and Emily?.. well, Emily's mom was an ambassador. She was bound to have extra cash squirrelled away somewhere. As for herself.. she would most likely be the best dressed broke girl on the whole sidewalk, living in a large designer bag. But she wouldn't worry about later. She was up for anything at the moment, and as the dazzling lights of the city that never sleeps hit her eyes, she knew somehow, some way, that the possibilities were now endless.

/_the second memory/_

"Alright, everybody grab a straw", Hotch ordered with an uncharacteristically goofy grin on his face. "Let's see who has to double up with Reid."

The team let out a collective laugh, all except the genius in question.

"Hey, that's not funny guys", Reid complained.

"Come on, Reid", Morgan jibbed, "No one wants to be kept up by you reading all night. And besides", he leered at Penelope suggestively, "There are far better ways of spending a night in Vegas.."

Penelope rolled her eyes at her flirty best friend. Sometimes he was just too much. "Yeah, like on the floor of the hotel room, if you happen to get paired with me."

"Aw, come one, baby girl", Derek pretended to whimper, "Why you gotta be like that? I just wanted to cuddle."

Penelope laughed dervishly. "Yes, well, your version of 'cuddle' and my version of 'cuddle' seem suspiciously different, my sweet."

Derek just chuckled. She was too much fun. Derek looked at his straw. "Well, I'm home-free", he joked.

"Me too", Hotch smirked, holding up his straw.

Rossi and Emily held up their straws. They were clear.

"Sorry, Spence", JJ pretended to console her heartbroken best friend, patting him on the back. "Me neither."

Everyone turned slowly in Penelope's direction.

She just stood there, staring disbelievingly at the shortened straw in the palm of her hand.

She looked up at her team and blurted, "No fair! Re-draw."

"Sorry, kitten", Rossi sighed, shaking his head, "Rules are rules."

"But-!", she began to protest.

"You'll get to bunk with Morgan next time", Hotch promised.

"But-!"

"Come on, P", Derek tried to persuade her. "Just let it go."

"Fine", she huffed crossly, glaring a moment at Derek and then turning her attentions to her new roommate. "Look, mister!", she barked, poking the scrawny profiler in the chest with a polished nail, "You are now my wing-man! And you are hereby not allowed to be even a little bit boring for this entire trip! If you talk about books, I will force you to take a shot of alcohol. If you talk about educational documentaries, I will force you to take a shot of alcohol. If you talk about anything, ANYTHING, case related, I will force you to take three shots of alcohol! And I'm not going to add babbling on about statistics because I know you can't help it, and frankly, sometimes it's rather adorable." Penelope took a deep breath after her impassioned speech and then added, "Any questions?"

"Just one..", Reid replied nervously."

"Shoot", Garcia ordered.

"What's a wing-man?", he asked.

"And he says he's a genius..", Penelope wondered out loud, "Okay, gorgeous grey matter. Take my arm, I can see we've got some learnin' to do.." and she looped her arm around his before he could protest any further, grabbed Derek with the other arm and strode purposefully towards the hotel bar.

"Hey, I thought I was gonna be your wing-man!", Derek pouted.

"Don't worry, D. No one could ever replace my sweet love hunk. You will both be my wing-men.."

"I don't know who I feel more sympathy for", Hotch commented aloud, much to the amusement of the rest of the team, "Garcia, Reid.. or Morgan..."

/_the third memory/_

Penelope had discovered that Reid became less grating on the nerves when alcohol was involved, so she had introduced him to the wonderful world of whisky sours. Whisky sours might be considered a girly drink by some, but she personally believed that anything with whisky in it couldn't possibly be considered girly. She herself had had a plethora of different colorful drinks, including her current choice of gemstone martinis, shaken not stirred. She turned her head in the direction of Dave and Em's drinking game when cheers erupted from the small group that had gathered around to watch them.

"Look at them", she commented over the noise in the bar to her two wing-men. "Drinking like college students.. I'm beginning to feel rather left out.."

"Oh no, princess", Derek tried to warn her off of the subject. "We are not starting a contest too."

"Why not?", Penelope whined, tugging petulantly on Derek's jacket. "Come on. It'll be funnn." she smirked up at her love bug teasingly. "Ever so much fun.."

Derek hesitated only a few minutes longer. "Oh.. Alright. Fine", he sighed dramatically.

"Body shot competition?", she asked, perking up immediately, as hopeful as a puppy.

Derek barked out a huge laugh, then he caved. "Sure. Why not.."

"Yes!", Penelope hissed, pumping her fist in the air and almost socking Reid in the nose. "Oops! Sorry.." she apologized immediately.

"That's okay", Reid slurred, unused to the mass consumption of alcohol. "you two have fun. I'm gonna sit down.." and he moved to do just that, but Penelope reached out and hauled him back by her right side.

"Oh no you don't, skinny!", she warned. "All for one and one for all! It wouldn't be much of a competition if it was just me and Morgan now, would it?"

"you're not makin' any sense, but okay", Reid grinned. He was feeling really brave for some reason...

Reid blushed ever deepening shades of red as Penelope began to explain the finer mechanics of what exactly a 'body shot competition' was all about.

"You take the jello shooter..", she explained holding up the liquid which the nice bar lady had put into test tubes for them, "And then you place it somewhere on your body..", Penelope stuck the drink in her cleavage nonchalantly. "And then the challenge is the other person has to take the drink off of you without using their hands or spilling the drink and down the whole thing in one go. Simple enough. D, would you care to demonstrate for the good doctor?"

Derek placed his hands behind his back and removed the drink easily with his teeth. He then tilted his head back and swallowed the jello shooter down easily. He handed the empty container back to his best friend with a satisfied smirk.

"You've done this before, haven't you?", she cooed teasingly, before turning back to Reid. "Your turn, Spencer m'lad! Bottoms up!"

/_the fourth memory_/

And so the game progressed, getting crazier and crazier as they went along. Penelope knew in the back of her mind that she was consuming way too much alcohol way too fast, but she was also having too much fun and she was very determined to win. When the game had started, the participants had been careful not to even lightly brush each other's bodies, but now that they all had pints and pints of hooch coursing through their systems, all bets were off. Plus, Derek and Penelope were both frisky drunks, as it turned out, which was just fine as far as Penelope was concerned. When she stuck a jello shooter in her mouth and Derek nearly made out with her trying to get it, even thought he eventually ended up spilling it anyway, the three of them decided that that was to be the end of it, and that Penelope was the victor.

"It's not fair", Reid complained, slumping dejectedly at the bar. "This game was rigged from the start."

"Ah, don't be a sore loser, Reidy baby", Penelope chuckled, clapping him bracingly on the shoulder, and wrapping her other arm around Derek's neck for an impromptu group hug. "I have ta be better than you at something", she laughed loudly at her own inability to speak properly. "I expect I'll be payin' for it in the morin' thou'".

"I dunno, Reid has a point", Derek teased.

"Which is?", Penelope demanded to know.

"You had far more places to put the shooters then we did", he hinted wickedly.

Penelope squinted disapprovingly as her best friend. "Eff you, alright. You're just' jealous cuz' I have boobs an' you don't."

Derek laughed. "That don't make any sense, baby girl".

"Well, I'm drunk out my mind", she retorted. "What's your 'scuse?"

"I'm drunk off my ass", Derek replied with a glassy eyed grin.

"I'm drunk on my elbows", Reid mumbled loudly, much to the amusement of his two companions. They laughed themselves silly until they couldn't see.. or was it the alcohol? She couldn't tell anymore..

"I'ma see if JJ wants a play now", she giggled evilly, poking Reid in the ribs as she left her bar stool.

"Baby girl, I think that's enough", Derek tried to warn her.

Penelope spun on her heels and stuck her tongue out at Morgan before spinning back in JJ's direction.

But this time.. gravity won.

The next thing she knew, she was waking up a few minutes later, splayed out on the floor, with Hotch, Reid, and Derek standing over her.

"Ow", she said, even though nothing hurt at the moment.

"Alright, missy, up", Hotch ordered, trying to help her off the floor as gently as he could.

"Hotch, I'm fine", Penelope tried to persuade her boss without success. "I'm okay. I'm okay."

Hotch tightened his grip on her arm as she nearly fell over herself again.

Penelope bit her lip guiltily and dared to try and stare down Hotch's patented glare. "'Kay, so maybe I'll be fine later?"

"Much later", Hotch agreed, "I'm takin' you to your room."

"You can't ground me!", Penelope protested, unaware that she was being lead away regardless.

"Hotch, I can take 'er", Derek offered. He felt guilty for letting her drink so much.

"No, you stay here and help Reid sober up 'fore he falls too", Hotch ordered, nodding towards the poor little genius, who was currently sliding sideways off the bar.

Derek agreed without anymore fuss, and rushed over to help Reid upright again.

/_the fifth memory_/

The stairs were a nightmare. Penelope couldn't figure out which ones were really there and which ones weren't, and she kept chatting excessively in Hotch's ear. Hotch thanked whatever god was watching over him when they finally reached the elevator.

"Can you push the button?", he asked, his own arms and hands being too preoccupied with keeping the drunken computer geek vertical.

"Wish one?", she giggled.

Hotch resisted the temptation to roll his eyes at her. "The lil' arrow the points 'up'."

It took Penelope a good few minutes to focus in on the two little buttons beside the two sets of elevator doors. When her vision finally did clear for a microsecond, she hit the button forcefully in triumph, smirking proudly to herself. "Up, up, up, an' away, my handsome hero!"

Hotch cracked a small smile. She was ridiculous.

"I never did thank you fer that'", Penelope continued on sincerely.

"Yes, you did", Hotch waved off dismissively, "about a hundred times since we lef' the bar."

"Well, yeh that, obviously, but I mean the other stuff too", she insisted.

Hotch was confused. What was she talking about? "What chou mean?"

"I mean hirin' me in the first place", she explained, "Takin' a chance on me when no one else would."

"Someone woulda' hired you eventually", Hotch tried to assure her. "You're great at you're job."

Penelope shook her head with a small laugh. "Do you realize how many departments had rejected me 'fore you took me on?"

Hotch was surprised. I mean, he knew Penelope was a little 'odd', but her resume had been immaculate.. despite the fact that it had been printed on pink stationary and smelled of lavender.. even still, any department would have been lucky to have her skill set and expertise.

"Tweny three", Penelope answered her own question. "Tweny three departments rejected me a'fore you hired me."

Hotch didn't know what to say. That was nearly the entire bureau.. hang on, that was the entire bureau..

The elevator went bing!, signalling that it was ready to carry them up to Penelope's room and so they shuffled as best they could inside and leaned against the back wall as the doors closed shut behind them.

"But that's the entire bureau", Hotch said aloud after a few moments.

Penelope laughed, throwing her head back and staring fondly at the ceiling. "Yeh, 'the dragon lady' declined my application", she chuckled, referring to Strauss, "So I went around 'er an' reapplied directly to you. I guess that means I kinda 'back hacked' my way in." she turned to grin goofily at Hotch.

Hotch just stared at her. That explained so many of the things he had always wondered about. After he'd hired Penelope to the bureau, Strauss, who had been tolerable and even kind at times to him before hand, had become rather frosty and unapproachable afterwards. Which, in turn, had made things increasingly more difficult for the team as far as reports and red tape were concerned. However, when Hotch weighed the pros and cons, Penelope had proved herself to be an invaluable member of their BAU family, and there was no one in the tech pool who could run a search faster or more efficiently... and then there were of course the more 'personal' touches.. Penelope was their sunshine and their life-line, and they needed her more then they could ever express properly. Hotch continued to listen to Penelope's life story, which apparently she now seemed to want to share with him, until they reached the floor where all of their rooms were located.

"This is our stop", Hotch indicated, gesturing towards the open elevator doors and positioning himself to support Penelope while she tried to walk again.

"Home free!", Penelope giggled. "Thanks fer savin' me, boss-man."

"Just keep walkin'..", Hotch encouraged.

Penelope's brain then gave her an idea. A wild idea. A crazy, mad, impossible idea. She felt she owed her hero a debt. A debt that would be difficult to repay... but there was one thing she could do.. one thing she was extremely deft at... one thing which her alcohol bathed mind was sure was called for in this situation..

Hotch, unaware of the abrupt change in Penelope's behaviour, regarded the locked hotel room door calculatingly. "Where's you're key card?"

Penelope's face lit up with a mischievous gleam. "Oh, I'm sure it's somewhere..", she purred giddily.

Hotch blinked. Okay, that was weird.. "Do you have it?"

"Yep!", she giggled.

"Well, where is it?", Hotch asked, beginning to get impatient.

Penelope pretended to think, which wasn't hard in her current state, and then shrugged.

"Garcia", Hotch barked in his best authoritative voice, "I am not above searchin' you at this point- Where is the key card?"

"Hmm..", Penelope wondered aloud, reaching down the front of her shirt into her cleavage and pulling out a tube of lipstick. "Well, that's not it.." She reached in again and pulled out a small compact. "Nope.." She reached in for a third time and pulled out a small roll of money. "No dice.." As she went to search for a fourth time, Hotch grabbed hold of her wrist to stop her.

"What else could you possibly have in there?", he asked, wide eyed.

"My cell, emergency credit card, an' change from the bar", she answered breezily. "Huge boobs have their advantages."

Hotch was speechless.

Penelope giggled, shoving her retrieved belongings into Hotch's chest, "Hold these, would ya'? There's still one place I haven't checked.." and she began to heft up her skirt..

"Garcia!", Hotch scolded, glancing around to make sure no one else was in the hallway.

"Chill, boss-man", Penelope hushed the freak out king. "It's gotta be stuck in my garter belt.."

"In-? Garter-? What-?", Hotch sputtered.

"See?", she smirked, revealing the card was indeed strapped to her thigh.

Hotch shook his head. Why should he even be surprised anymore?

"Put the card in the door..", he ground out wearily.

"You didn't say the magi-", she sing-songed.

"-Please", Hotch cut across.

Penelope shut her mouth abruptly, figuring out that she was testing his nerves, and slid the card through the magnetic strip.

Hotch grabbed hold of the handle and pushed the door open, letting out a relieved sigh.

"I'm sorry I'm such a handful..", Penelope apologized meekly. "Kevin's always sayin' I have ta learn how ta' be less 'abrasive'.."

Now that didn't sit right at all with Hotch. "He says what to you?", he asked in a slightly angered tone.

"He says I gotta learn to be quieter, an' sweeter, an' gentler", she explained with a hint of regret in her voice, "Less of a pain ta' deal with.."

"I'm sorry, What?", Hotch couldn't believe his ears.

"An' he's right, you know. I shouldn't be so- so-"

"You", Hotch finished for her, and then added, "He wants you not to be 'you'. An' that's bullshit. He's a piece of garbage an' you don't have ta' give' crap about what he thinks."

"But-", Penelope tried to protest, but Hotch wasn't gonna hear it.

"You are beautiful, an' smart, an' funny, an' wonderful just the way you are, an' if he can't see that, well, that's his loss-"

But anything else he had to say was abruptly cut short... because someone had grabbed hold of his face and was kissing him..


	24. Chapter 24: dreaming can be dangerous

[a/n: life is getting complicated for poor PG. don't hate me for how this chappy ends please. i just wanna be able to break up the story a little more. and penelope has to deal with her feelings regarding hotch before the memories can continue. i really truly love y'all. peace and happiness, and whatever holiday you celebrate, may it be merry~*]

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN. NOR DO I RECEIVE ANY FORM OF ILLEGAL PAYMENT FOR MY EFFORTS... i do this for the joy of it :) STOP CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET! SIGN THE PETITION!

Hotch pushed Penelope back and stared at her. "Why-?"

"Because Haley is gone an' you're alone an' a nice guy, an' nice guys like you shouldn't be alone, an' you're my hero, an' you say nice things ta' me all the time even when I don't deserve 'em, an' you've been drinkin', an' I've been drinkin', an' I feel so empty an' hollow an' awful inside, an' I need it, an' you need it, an' it's never gonna happen again, so would you please just shussssssssssh and kiss me?", Penelope explained in quick cession.

"You know you're only doin' this 'cuz-"

Penelope kissed him soundly again. "I don't care."

"-An' you know I have ta' stop you 'cuz-"

Penelope silenced him with an other kiss. "It's okay ta' help friends", she argued.

"You're drunk."

Penelope had had enough. She pushed him back onto her hotel bed and gave him the largest, longest kiss yet. "An' so are you.."

Hotch tried to escape, but she was stronger then he would have expected, and he was a lot more drunk then he thought he had been when he left the bar, and if truth be told, he was rather lonely, and it was sweet that she felt so strongly about him losing Haley and everything that she was willing to give herself to him. Hotch also hadn't known Kevin could be such a jerk, and his brain was telling him that it would serve the bloody bastard right to sleep with her. However, he couldn't stop that little nagging feeling that said this wasn't really what either of them wanted. Having a conscience really, truly sucked sometimes..

"Garcia, wait a minute..", Hotch managed to eek out in between her kisses.

"What now?", she asked, not stopping to listen.

"Are you sure you wanna be doin' this?", he asked.

Penelope glared at him in a 'well, duh!' type of manner. "Why are you so determined not to?"

"I just feel like you're makin' a big mistake an' I don' think you really want this", she was listening now, but Hotch knew he was on thin ice, so he continued on quickly, "I know Kevin can be a jerk sometimes an' you feel that right now you're time would be better spent on me, but then why are you with him in the first place? If he's so awful, why haven't you left him already?"

Penelope considered that for a moment. "'cuz sometimes he's a jerk jerk, but sometimes he's a sweet jerk, an' he's safe. He won't ever break my heart. he isn't secure enough ta' ever leave me, an' he's not gonna turn inta' a snake in the grass an' try an' shoot me in the effin' chest-" she stopped short. She hadn't meant to say the last part out loud. It was fear that kept her with Kevin. Fear of rejection.. fear of losing control.. fear of heartbreak.. fear of not being good enough.. but most of all, it was the fear and self-doubt Jason Clark Battle had left her with after he had gone out on a date with her just to try and kill her. That wound had never truly healed, but she had hidden it well. She had seemingly moved on right afterwards and no one had suspected a thing. Not even the profilers she worked with everyday. "I.. I didn't mean that..", she tried to back-peddle, but she should have known better.

"Yes, you did", Hotch stated matter-of-factually. "He's you're safety net. You don't have ta' feel threatened. I get it."

"No you don't!", Penelope wailed.

"Yes, I do", Hotch affirmed. "I absolutely know what it's like ta' be scared ta' let people in again after an unsub tries ta' take you out. I know that you feel it's not worth riskin' your heart gettin' broken again, no matter how much of life and love you may miss out on, 'cuz if you broke again it would be too much ta' bear by yourself. I know how it feels when they charm their way inta' your life and then tear a giant hole in the middle with no remorse and think nothin' of it. I know how you feel.. 'cuz it happened to me... you're not alone, Penelope..."

"Penelope.."

"Penelope...?"

"Penelope-!"

Penelope woke with a start, bolting up right. She couldn't breathe! Tears were streaming down her face and she couldn't breathe. She looked to her left when she felt someone gripping her hand tightly. It was Reid. She was in the BAU. She was in the BAU with Reid and she was safe. She choked a little as her airways began to function properly again.

"Wh-what hap-pen-ed?", she asked.

"You began to convulse", Reid explained, "rather violently."

"And then we realized you weren't breathing", Callie added from directly beside her genius friend.

"We believed you may have begun to go into hypertensive shock for some reason, so I attempted to bring you out of the hypnosis early. Luckily, I succeeded in time", Reid concluded.

"You mean.. I could have.. died?", Penelope was horrified.

"There was a risk, yes", Reid conceded. "You must've hit a mental block of some kind that was too great for you to overcome."

"Why didn't you warn me?", Penelope shrieked angrily.

"Because you said you truly wanted answers!", Reid barked back. "If you earnestly wanted to know the truth about what happened in Vegas, there wouldn't have been any complications! I swear!"

"But I do want to know..", Penelope sniffed, more tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes. "And now I never will.."

"Not.. necessarily..", Reid was hesitant to amend.

Penelope's head snapped up hopefully in his direction.

"Bringing you out of the hypnosis early may have caused you to lose the memories from the rest of the Vegas trip or.."

"Or?", Penelope asked apprehensively.

"Or.. the next time you fall asleep.. they may simply.. start up again.. but I warn you; If your mind is not ready to divulge all of it's secrets, you could begin to seize again. It would be best not to think about it before you go to sleep at night if there's no one there who can wake you."

"But it's all I can think about!", Penelope squeaked helplessly. "Day or night!"

"Then one of us will have to stay with you", Callie surmised, unable to come up with another option. "I'll take the first shift. I am her doctor after all, and there's the baby to consider."

"I'll need to be on call though", Reid explained. "In case normal methods of waking are proved ineffective."

Callie gave him a quizzical look.

Reid shrugged. "My knowledge on hypnosis, dream-states, and nocturnal cycles is boundless."

"I see..", she nodded, still regarding him suspiciously, like he was about to declare himself an alien life-form.

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in", Hotch assented.

JJ poked her head into the room and let out a sigh of relief. "There you all are! I've been looking everywhere! A new case just came in. And guess what? Florida."

The BAU members winced collectively. The ones from Florida were always rough.

"We'll be there in ten", Hotch pacified, then turning to Callie, Reid and Penelope he added, "We'll keep a tab on this situation with daily check-ins, but for now, Florida needs us."

The small group nodded with steeled determination and then departed the scene quickly. Unsubs wait for no one...

[a/n: more little holiday presents coming in the form of chapters... and maybe some triple x-mas.. we'll see, lol.]


	25. Chapter 25: they have their benefits

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN. NOR DO I RECEIVE ANY FORM OF ILLEGAL PAYMENT FOR MY EFFORTS... i do this for the joy of it :) STOP CENSORSHIP OF THE INTERNET! SIGN THE PETITION!

Callie stood in the doorway to the supreme mistress' tech lair and watched in awe as she bustled around her office printing and sending facts and figures as if nothing had just occurred moments before.

"Um..", she managed after a few moments, stepping further into the ether world. "Are you.. feeling alright?"

Penelope stopped what she was doing for a millisecond and smiled fondly at her doctor. "Not really. I feel a bit queasy, but I have been lately, I just had to relive one of the most embarrassing moments in my entire life, I could have died from the side effects of the retrieval process, and we have a new case that'll take my team away from me and that looks particularly nasty. Other than that... I'll manage." she turned back to her computer screens to keep on working, but Callie stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"Never-the-less, I'd still like us to return to the hospital post-haste and do an ultrasound to check on the baby", she stated firmly.

Penelope looked up at her in surprise. "Oh! Right. When I lost oxygen-.."

"So did the baby, yes", Callie nodded.

Penelope looked around at her screens, uncertain of her next move. "Um.. I guess I'll have to.. But what about..? I'll have to ask Hotch.."

"How about I go ask him while you finish up here?", Callie suggested.

"Yeah, sure..", Penelope agreed, spinning in her computer chair, turning off all non-essential monitors, already planning in her mind the order in which to complete her tasks.

Callie strode quickly down the halls of the BAU back to Aaron Hotchner's office. When she arrived at his door, she found it open, so she knocked lightly on the door frame.

Hotch looked up from the files he had been packing into his go bag. "i assume you've come to ask permission to escort Penelope to your hospital for a cautionary ultrasound?", he more stated then asked.

"Yes, sir", Callie smiled. Profilers had their benefits.

"I was just thinking the same thing myself", Hotch nodded. "She knows all of our cell numbers. Keep us informed."

"I'll call as soon as the results are in", Callie promised.

"Thank you, Dr. Torres", Hotch conveyed gratefully. "She really is lucky to have you."

"And she, your team as well, sir", Callie ingratiated.

Hotch gave Callie a small smile as he left her standing in his office doorway, off to save the world yet again.

[a/n: sorry for the shortness and the lateness. more to come.]


End file.
